A hot wind pulled violently on her hair and clothes. She held a hand up, protecting her eyes. She didn't know where she was, but she had the feeling of being home. But something was wrong, it didn't feel right. She started walking, but the walking turned to running when she seemed to go nowhere. Her surroundings never changed. She tripped. Falling hard, her hands and knees stung from where the ground bit into them. Looking over her shoulder, she saw what she tripped over. A dead body. Panicking, she tried to crawl away and stand up at the same time. But she bumped into another body, and then another. They surrounded her. Her wings burst from her back, carrying her high into the air. Looking down, she saw dead bodies everywhere, for as far as she could see. She started to see her friends among the bodies; her loved ones among the dead. Bile rose up her throat and she physically gaged, covering her mouth. Only to recoil as her hands were covered in blood. A scream tore up her throat, hot tears burned her cheeks as she stared at her hands. Fires erupted, shooting in great geysers from the ground and racing over everything, consuming the bodies. Cackles of laughter sounded below her as creatures began to form from the flames. Fear and dread hit her like a gale force, causing her wings to falter. She started to fall towards the flames. She caught herself, trying to gain altitude, but long-fingered hands that were burned and rotted grabbed at her, trying to drag her down again. Bright yellow eyes and forked tongues appeared from the flames. Laughter swallowing her as she curled into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible. She wanted to wake up now; she wanted to go back to where everyone was safe and alive. She wanted to stop burning, stop the pain that clawed at her skin, trying to get inside to her soul. Demons. The realization was very clear. Demons were coming to Gibraltar, and they were going to slaughter and burn everything.
Her head hurt, and there was a knot in her back the demanded a stretch. She tried sitting up, but hands gently pushed her back into the pillows.
"Careful Simone." A feminine voice was soft spoken, but it rang and echoed through her sore head. She made a noise of discomfort, bringing a hand to her forehead. She opened her eyes slowly, they felt so heavy. The bright lights made her eyes burn and she winced.
"Angela?" Her voice cracked, her throat was terribly dry. The other Nephilim placed a hand against Simone's forehead, and relief washed over the ache. Simone was able to open her eyes and look around without any discomfort. Angela was sitting in a chair beside her bed.
"What? What are you doing here?" She asked Angela. The other woman looked concerned.
"You don't remember anything?" Simone puzzled over what she possibly could have forgotten.
"I don't…" Her vision flashed through her mind in a blur; in a blink of an eye yet with total clarity. Simone sat up with a jerk, dry heaving over the side of the bed. Angela stood quickly, patting her back to try and soothe her.
"It's okay, calm down. Breathe slowly." She coached. Simone's door opened.
"She's awake?" Simone saw both Jack and Gabriel waiting, not sure if they should come in. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, and grateful that nothing actually came up with the heaving, she gave Gabriel a questioning look.
"I feel like I've missed something. What's going on?" He came to her bedside, resting a hand on her knee.
"You had a bad vision." Simone nodded with a grimace.
"Yeah, it was bad."
"He meant you reacted badly physically." Jack said from the foot of her bed.
"I don't understand." She looked at Jack and Angela, brow furrowed.
"How did you guys get here?"
"We came the long way. You've been unconscious for almost a week." Simone felt sick to her stomach again and started to shake her head frantically. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her covers tight.
"Simone, calm down please." Angela said, softly but firmly.
"Gabriel will explain. Jack, why don't you and I go get her something to eat." They left and Gabriel set next to her.
"What happened?" She asked, her lower lip giving a little tremble.
"You were screaming, and scratching at your arms. Then you started crying blood. After you passed out I sent someone to Overwatch. They escorted Jack and Angela through the forest. It took 3 days. Angela wasn't able to wake you, but she and Zenyatta healed your physical wounds while you were asleep." Simone's eyes itched and tears welled. She couldn't believe what he was saying.
"Don't cry." He warned her, and she let out a sad chuckle. She didn't want to cry either. He brushed her cheek with a knuckle in an affectionate way.
"Sit up and I'll help with your wings." He instructed. She did, mentally grimacing about the state of her wings, having not been released in almost a week. But the knot in her back went away when she brought them out and she gave a small sigh of relief. He gently went through her feathers, making sure she was comfortable and relaxed before he asked.
"Tell me about the vision." He asked. Simone inhaled deeply, then started. She told him every detail she could remember, holding nothing back. She thought the nausea would return as she described the bodies and the blood, but Gabriel kept her grounded, his fingers working over her sensitive wings. Simone was sure that it was the only way she could have re-lived her vision without completely losing control. She hesitated at the end though, not sure how to put the last part.
"I died." She whispered, her voice wavering. His body tensed up and he stopped.
"They dragged me down and I burned." Tears burned behind her eyelids. Gabriel stood suddenly, he seemed angry. Tipping her head back, he made her look at him.
"You're safe here." He promised her. He stomped his way to the door, turning to address her one last time before he left.
"Stay in bed." Pulling her knees to her chest, she buried her face in her lap and cried.
"Never do that to us again!"Sombra pleaded, throwing herself across the bed. Angela made a disapproving noise in the back of her throat but didn't interrupt her conversation with Zenyatta to scold the necromancer. Zenyatta and she had bonded over their healing abilities, and were sitting in the corner of the room talking about her recovery, Amor perched on Zenyatta's shoulder.
"I mean, all of us were pretty scared. You went pretty out of it. But…" Sombra gave an exaggerated shiver.
"He was so impossible to deal with. It got a little better when the Overwatch three got here, but it was still bad until you woke up. Everyone was afraid to say anything to him, like he was going to wraith out and kill the first person to talk."
"If it makes you feel better, I don't want a repeat performance either." Simone shrugged apologetically. Satya sighed and gave a dramatic wave of her hand.
"She is exaggerating. It was a bad few days, but nothing we could not handle." Sombra scoffed, shooting the dark elf a look.
"You certainly stayed out of his way." Satya gave a flush and a haughty look, refusing to make further comment.
"He was distressed and worried." Zenyatta gave his input, stroking the little bird's head. Simone sighed and leaned back heavily into her pillows. After her emotional breakdown, she felt better, but still bad for making everyone worry. Then something that Sombra said caused her to perk back up.
"Three? You said the Overwatch three." Angela clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes.
"When Gabe's messenger reached us, Genji became a little insistent on following us. Jack ordered him to stay behind, but he followed after us anyway."
"So Genji is here, why isn't he hanging around you." Zenyatta and Sombra gave little knowing smiles.
"Reaper will not let him in your rooms. Zenyatta is only allowed in because he is a healer." Satya explained, still not making eye contact with anyone.
"He also finds himself preoccupied." Zenyatta hummed. Simone gave Angela a sly smile.
"What could possibly take his attention off of you?"
"His brother." Simone's brow rose in surprise.
"I thought they were estranged."
"The messenger Gabe sent was his brother. Who was equally surprised to see Genji. I believe they are hashing it out now."
"I didn't know his brother was in the city." Simone admitted.
"Hanzo stays deeper in the forest. He's kind of a loner." Sombra supplied.
"Why didn't Gabriel let Genji come see me?" Simone asked, chewing her lower lip.
"Because Gabe has always been a very protective and possessive person, and I don't think he's changed that much." Angela said sarcastically.
"You're not supposed to have any guests really, we are just crashing the Simone party." Sombra shrugged. Simone smiled, really enjoying her friends.
"Thank you for breaking the rules. I was unaware you were willing to risk his wrath for simple, little me." She laughed.
"Not too willing. Satya has set up a warning system." Zenyatta laughed along with her.
"If he is heading this way, I will know." Satya agreed.
"And your escape plan?"
"Out the window. Isn't that how you do it sometimes?" Sombra smirked.
"I only come in that way." Simone corrected her.
"And how are either of you making it out of that window, we are too high up."
"I am offended that you believe me incapable of using my abilities for something as simple as being in a very tall tree." Satya said sarcastically.
"I'm offended she thinks us stupid enough to just jump out of a window." Sombra rolled her eyes.
"Why can't you just open them a portal. It has to be safer." Angela rationalized.
"It would be a little suspicious, Gabriel can feel when I use my magic. He might figure out I am helping them."
"You hear that Satya, not even willing to help us after we came to check on her." Sombra dramatically held a hand over her heart.
"Can you tell when he uses his magic?" Angela asked curiously.
"The bonding ceremony used does make it possible. It is a two-way street." Zenyatta explained.
"But he uses magic all of the time, so it hardly makes a difference. I have just gotten used to it constantly buzzing in the back of my head." Simone shrugged.
"That's interesting." Angela puzzled.
"Hardly. He's a wraith." Sombra retorted.
"He uses his magic to keep his form stable and solid."
"Wow." Simone whispered under her breath. That was an incredibly large amount of magic to exert for a single day.
"We'll let Satya take care of getting you out of here, that way no one is getting in trouble for using their magic." Zenyatta solved.
"I wouldn't get into trouble." Simone protested.
"But would Satya be able to get them down safely?" Angela asked, always concerned for others. Satya stood up quickly, startling them all.
"A demonstration perhaps." She walked over to the window, gracefully climbing out on the window ledge and proceeded to walk out of the ledge like there was a set of stairs outside of the window. They all watched, waiting, but after a few seconds, she didn't reappear. Sombra jumped up, running to the window and looked out.
"Gah! She's throwing me to the wolves." She proceeded to jump out the window as well. Simone got out of bed and walked over, leaning out the window. It was a set of stairs, or as stair-like as woven vines slowly creeping back down the side of the tree could be. Satya was almost at the bottom, Sombra close behind, going at a much faster pace.
"Why aren't you in bed?" Gabriel's voice growled low behind her. Simone gave a small squeak, spinning around quickly. He walked across the room and leaned over her, looking over her shoulder out the window. He saw the two finally make it to the ground, and run out of sight. Simone's lower lip between her teeth, she held her breath and stood perfectly still. Gabriel was practically pressed against her so he could look out the window, and her heart was going triple speed. He looked down at her but didn't move back.
"Breaking all of the rules, are we." She answered his question with a coy smile.
"Only the ridiculous ones." She wanted to slide closer, to press fully against his broad chest. A discreet cough caught their attention. Angela and Zenyatta were still in the room. Gabriel took a large step back, steering her back towards the bed with a hand to her shoulder.
"What's the point of you two being here if you're not going to keep her in bed?"
"She only just got up." Angela tried to soothe him.
Gabriel set her at the edge of the bed, pointing at the pillows.
"Lay back." She did what he told, blushing bright red, her mind taking things differently then they were intended.
"Bossy." She whispered, knowing he would hear.
"She is doing much better." Zenyatta told him.
"I feel fine Gabriel." She huffed, pulling her braid over her shoulder. He looked at her before turning to Angela.
"Is she?" He asked. Angela nodded.
"Physically, she is fine. All healed. Mentally…" She folded her hand, and thought of how to word it.
"I don't believe that she will regress, but as long as she stays away from stressful situations I believe that she will be perfectly fine within a few weeks."
"I am right here. And I'm fine!" Simone pleaded.
"Is she going to have another episode like this again?" They ignored her.
"We won't ever know. After you explained to us what the vision was, I honestly believe that she reacted so physically because she saw her own death. There is no guarantee that she won't see it again." Angela shook her head sadly at the thought. Simone pouted, then threw one of her pillows at them. It hit Gabriel in the back of the head.
"I. Am. Fine. I don't want to lay around anymore."
"You can go." He told the two healers before turning to Simone. Angela and Zenyatta gave her both looks of amusement and left.
"You can't bully me into staying in bed all day." Simone told him. He leaned over her, bracing himself on the bed's headboard.
"I bet I could." Her breath caught in her throat, suddenly hard to swallow. He was using the deep voice again. And it felt like her insides were melting into a hot puddle in her stomach. Her whole face grew pink and her ears burned. He chuckled, before pulling away.
"At least for the rest of the day, stay in bed. And as long as you promise to stay out of trouble, you can leave it tomorrow."
"I hardly get into trouble." Simone retorted. He scoffed, amusement clear in his tone, and she wished that he wasn't wearing the mask so she could see his face.