CHAPTER 7
TALON HIDEOUT - THE FREEZER
After hours of shivering, Amélie stopped and sank into the cold. Although she knew she could not die from this, as her genetic engineering forbade her from it, she wished she could.
Her body had given up trying to keep warm. Her previous position of huddling in the corner had loosened to a normal sitting state. She did nothing but stare at the weak white light that peeked in through the tiny cell room doors. "Un coeur gelé; Dans un monde gelé…" She recited.
Finally, music to her ears, the latched door began to creak open. Although she was nearly frozen solid, she crawled towards the warm light. "Calm down, you filthy bitch. Come out nice and slow." A Talon grunt ordered. Widow creeped out of the freezer on her stomach, basking in the dim underground ceiling light her captors had so kindly provided to her.
The heat of the dying out bulbs from the subterranean dungeon were her only comforts in this moment. She was in a hopeless state of euphoria that blocked out all else except the pleasure of being warm.
"Did you hear me? I said roll over, maggot!" The guard kicked her side as if he was sending a soccer ball across a field. "Oomf!" She grunted as she felt a rib snap. She reluctantly complied with obedience. Widow somehow shifted her body so she was lying on her back.
The guard didn't say anything more, he left her to thaw on the floor. Her mind shifted back to the cold-blooded killer that she had become when she killed her husband Gerard: the Widowmaker had been reborn once again.
TALON HIDEOUT - MISSION BRIEFING ROOM
"I would apologize for throwing you in the freezer again instead of rewarding your work, but I know you don't care either way." Reaper said, flipping through papers on a nearby table. Widow stood idly by, vacant, and nearly unaware of her current surroundings. "Ah, the old Widowmaker has returned, I see… welcome back."
Widow stepped up to Reaper's desk. The ruined old man had unequipped his usual leather cape and most of the rest of his normal outfit. He sat before her in what could be considered underwear if it weren't still a metal bodysuit that kept his rapidly decaying form together. "Your assignment is to take out an old friend of ours, Miss Lacroix." Reaper explained as Widow growled at the mention of her true name.
"Angela Ziegler is a previous Overwatch agent and a current Overwatch sympathizer. You and I both know very well how influential she could be if Overwatch was reinitiated. Your job is to take her out at her home in Switzerland before she can relocate." Widow nodded, showing she understood what her boss wanted from her. "I want this to be clean, none of that shit that went down in Hanamura. You'll be spending longer than 7 hours in that freezer if you come back empty handed this time." Reaper threatened. Something that was said purely to scare her did nothing of the sort. Widow plainly shrugged and continued on her way to the drop ship that would transport her to her destination.
Although he did want to have a mindless slave to do his bidding, Widow was acting more interested than normal. She had never been in the freezer that long, nor had she given them to reason to before today. Something was amiss with her. Maybe I shouldn't let her go, she doesn't seem like she's in the condition to think clearly… But we do need Ziegler dead as soon as possible.
Reaper dismissed his doubts as quickly as they came. Widow had already boarded her ship and was on her way to the target. The tired mess of a man slumped in his chair. There was a ship on its way to extract him from the facility as well, although he had a few moments of solitude before it arrived.
He was on his way to meet another Talon leader on the council, Vialla was his name. He had been the most influential amongst the Talon officials, although he was more interested in money and power than the original vision. The original vision of course being yet another war between humans and omnics.
The great man who stood for everything Talon stood for had been put behind bars many years. A revolutionary individual who could turn the tide of the state of affairs if need be. A strong hand to turn the wheel: Akande Ogundimu, better known as, Doomfist.
It was only a matter of time, now. Talon had been secretly shipping him his mechanized body parts back through secret packages in his food. Akande had been rebuilding himself for years now, and he was almost back to full strength. The day when he burst from the UN's prison he'd been held in would be the day Talon's power returned.