"You're still very much confused. Most are when they arrive here." Abasi acknowledged.
Pharah took a seat on the ground. Without anywhere to go or anything to do except talk, it was all she could really do.
"You seem very calm and collected, all things considered." Pharah mentioned.
"Yeah, well... I've been here a while. You get used to it."
A silence filled the air, like a thick, uncomfortable smoke. A wall of grey mist surrounded them in all directions that seemed like it would never cease. The ground was flat, almost glassy.
"Heh. And to think we thought we were all invincible." The colonel piped up.
"Who?" Pharah inquired.
"You, me, the rest of our squadron from the Academy. We were all supposed to make it out of that mess alive and then go home to our families. That was the plan. That was the promise we made to each other." Abasi recited from the day they had graduated.
"Yes, it was, but what about it?"
"Hanbal, Moss, Myself. We fell in battle during the omnic crisis. Nuru was struck down during a Talon ambush. Your mother got taken out by some lucky two-bit talon sniper. God knows what happened to Morrison. And then there's you."
"What about me? What are you going on about?" Pharah asked impatiently.
"I'm saying you still have a chance to go back. To walk away from all of this. Unlike us, you still have a home to go back to." Abasi pleaded.
"I can't do that. I took an oath to save lives, even if it meant sacrificing my own. We all did." Pharah reminded.
"And we all have, Fareeha. Go home. That might be the hardest pill for you to swallow, but you need to go home. You can't just throw your life away running missions all the time."
"But the people I swore to protect..."
"I don't think it would kill them if you took a break from time to time." Abasi reasoned.
Abasi sighed and closed her eyes, breathing in.
"You know, you have something that most people would give up everything for, Fareeha."
"What?"
"A chance to begin again. I want you to take that chance."
The ghosts of Pharah's old squadron mates began to peer through the mist, standing side by side to Colonel Abasi.
"We want you to take that chance."
Pharah could only stand in stunned silence. Here they were, her old squadron. People she had almost grown up with, fought alongside, and watched die right in front of her. This was what was once almost her family.
"I...I understand." The Skyknight promised, and as she did, her armor materialized around her, battered and broken. Her rocket launcher did the same, devoid of any ammunition in its loading chamber.
"I won't let you down, but it is my duty to protect the innocent." She said, fierce determination filled her words.
"You can't save them all, you know that. We're proof." Abasi pointed out.
"I know..." Pharah said as she donned her Raptora's eagle helmet once more.
"...But I have to try."
Without warning, everything went white. It was as if the brightest of suns was shining directly into her face. The wall of mist cleared as if swatted away like a common fly.
"See you around, Fareeha."
In an instant, Abasi and the rest of Pharah's old squad disappeared. Pharah could breathe again, she could see again.
And suddenly, the world wasn't so cold anymore.
Pharah awoke, dazed, confused, and in a hospital gown. She looked up to see she was in a hospital room. To her left was the love of her life sleeping at her side, and to her right was a television that displayed the news.
"And in further news, the omnic terrorist organization that was occupying New Ontario, known as the PLLC, has officially surrender to the Canadian Armed Forces as of this morning. When the omnics programming was checked, it was discovered that they had been hacked. Investigators have not released any further info." The newscaster reported before switching to weather reports.
She could only sigh in relief tiredly as she looked back over to Angela, who was beginning to stir from her slumber. She yawned and stretched her arms as she awoke. It was only then she spotted Fareeha staring at her.
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright." Ziegler said.
"I'm doing quite well, enjoying the view and all."
"But the window is that way." Angela pointed out.
"I know." Fareeha said flirtatiously.
Angela smiled. "Come here, you." She whispered as she kissed Fareeha.
As they seperated, Angela's eyes lit up.
"Oh! That reminds me. We recovered this from your armor." She said as she pulled out a dog-eared photo from her lab coat's breast pocket. She curtly handed it over to her recovering lover.
"Thank you..." Fareeha said as she took it.
"Also, you were mumbling quite a lot while you were unconscious. You sounded almost like you were having a conversation with somebody."
"I was."
"Oh? With who?"
Pharah stared down at the photo once again. Her eyes shifting from Colonel Abasi, then Seargeant Abasi. Her squad mates were all there, too. All of the ones she had seen on the other side.
"An old friend. They gave me A Second Chance." She said softly.
The End
