I was glad that no one else had decided to use the gym; I had it all to myself. I spent a good twenty minutes walking around the machines and the weights, just to calm myself. It was quiet here. I was alone. I was safe.
Fareeha had kissed Angela.
In front of everyone! And no one had said anything! It had to be play, I was sure. But if it wasn't…no, I couldn't get ahead of myself. I had to make sure this was a safe place, a good place, and not some kind of cruel trick.
I pulled my little book from my pocket and read over my work out schedule. I was halfway done before I went to dinner with Mei. I needed to finish.
The chance never came. A klaxon blared, a call to arms. I might not be able to finish my workout schedule, but a fight would help clear my mind.
I bolted from the gym and ran to my room. It was all muscle-memory; I had laid out my armor, and was quick to slide into it. My precious cannon was exactly where I left it; next to my bed, under a massive terry cloth blanket, in power saving mode.
The connectors in my gloves sparked to life as I grabbed the handle and pulled it up. It synced to my power pack and let out a reassuring blip; it was ready for action. Yes, this was just what I needed.
Overwatch must meet in the hanger bay, so I ran there as quick as I could. Morrison beat me to a jet plane by a few seconds.
"Glad you're quick on your feet," he said.
"Perks of being on the front," I said. "You are quick to a fight."
Mei and Angela were next, with Fareeha and her mother following right behind them. I excused myself to examine the plane, just to help clear my head.
"Are you alright?" I jumped; Mei had snuck up on me. Dammit, I thought that her smile would get me in trouble; it was her eyes that would do me in. They were filled with concern, and from what I could tell, it was genuine.
"Just need a fight," I mumbled.
"Ach! Let me go, woman!"
I looked up; Reinhardt was trying to run to the plane, half-armored, and a brown-haired woman in tow.
"Your armor still isn't ready yet!" She yelled. "You want to run in half-naked?"
"Brigitte, our friend is in trouble," Reinhardt said. "She needs our help."
"Reinhardt, we can't help Tracer if you get hit," Morrison said. "We need you at one-hundred percent for the next deployment. Go, fix your armor, we'll be fine."
"Jack is right." Dammit, it was that floating tin can Zenyatta. "If you are hurt, you will not be able to save the next great life. Be at peace, and chose your battles."
"Fine," Reinhardt spat. "But only because my armor decided to stop working."
"Maybe if you wouldn't push it so hard, it might last," the woman Brigitte said.
"Reinhardt, we got a group of six, we're good," Morrison said. "Everyone, on the plane. Now!"
I let Angela and Fareeha go first. I let Zenyatta go next. Ana, Morrison and Mei were next. I brought up the rear, staying as far to the back as possible. There were a line of chairs on the jet, and I quickly strapped myself in. Mei sat next to me, a worried look on her face.
"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked.
"Positive," I mouthed.
The world spun as the jet took off. We were in a hurry; we got in the air damn fast. Fortunately, it was a vertical take-off jet, and we didn't need to waste time to taxi to a runway.
"Winston's system just got a call from Tracer," Morrison said. "She was following a Talon group when an opportunity presented itself; she was able to capture enemy intel. Downside is, her cover was blown and she almost got caught. She's running from Talon, and needs us to pick her up.
"She's in the south of France; we should be there within twenty minutes. We need to get on the ground, find Tracer, and neutralize any Talon mercs we find. So get your game faces on, we need to hit the ground running. Winston will be on heads, providing support."
Tracer. Another hero of Overwatch. Was she…? No, I couldn't focus on that. I had to focus on saving her. I couldn't think of her as a person, but as on objective. Talon wanted to kill her, a hero of the Omnic War. That made me angry. That felt right. Anger was good; I knew anger. I didn't know whatever…whatever Angela and Fareeha were or what Mei made me feel.
We had a little time, so I ran over my cannon's diagnostics. I had done it twice before putting it in sleep mode, but it helped me clear my mind, and focus on getting angry at whomever these 'Talon' people were.
The temperature dropped. I looked up; Mei had some kind of blaster in her hand.
"What is that?"
"Endothermic blaster," she smiled. I had to look at that strange blaster to keep myself from staring. "Built it myself."
"Doesn't look like much."
"Trust me, it's got the goods."
The airplane dipped. We would be attacking soon. That meant I got to lead us out of the plane. I grinned; I like running point.
"Zarya, you clear an area," Morrison called. "This town has two levels, a low level by the sea, a high level away from it. You sweep low."
"Understood."
"Fareeha, Angela, you're with me. Zen, you and Mei back up Zarya. Ana, find a place best for you and provide support as needed. We meet in the middle of the town where Tracer's pinned down."
The damn Omnic was with me? Fucking Morrison was testing me, I knew it. I also knew I had to prove him wrong. If we wanted to see how I could fight with on Omnic, I would show him.
The plane dipped, and the doors opened. I jumped to the ground, scanning the area. There were no threats.
"Clear!"
"You know what to do," Morrison said. "Get to it!"
There was a street that sloped down; it must go to the lower portion of the city. I took it, watching for enemies. Gunfire echoed from across the city. Hopefully that would be Morrison getting to work. Peeking over my shoulder, I could see Zenyatta not too far from Mei.
"I've got my eye on you, Omnic," I growled.
"And I will watch your back in turn," 'he' replied.
Mei chuckled at that. Fine, it was a good one. But knowing that an Omnic would be with me, it made me even more angry. It was much better than feeling like this whole Angela and Fareeha thing was at trap to lure me out. I couldn't be the hunted; I had to be the hunter.
A group of black-armored, heavily armored men broke from cover. They seemed to be busy fighting Morrison and his group; they never noticed us. They only noticed when my cannon spat out two explosive shots at them.
My particle cannon was at no charge; un-amplified, the shots only battered the men. They opened fire on me. My shields drained, but I was quick to activate my particle barrier.
"Is that all you've got?" My charge gauge quickly filled, and the power of my cannon grew.
The next two lobs were able to truly hurt them. Bodies were thrown about, and I carved through the rest of them with ease.
"From Russia, with love," I laughed. This felt better.
More of these Talon people fell in. I ducked to cover, but saw that Mei had her back turned to them; she seemed to be forming an ice wall from thin air.
"Mei!"
She yelped as the men attacked her. But I was quicker. I thumbed a switch, and a projected barrier popped over her, protecting her from harm. The barrier took the shots for her, and my cannon grew even stronger. She was quick to find cover before it failed.
"You saved me," she smiled.
"Da," I smiled back. "You are covered."
I leaned out from cover, shooting all four shots into the Talon group. By then, I was at maximum charge; they stood no chance against me.
"Check out this gun, Talon!" This was much better. "Move up, we need to meet with Morrison."
I pushed on, and Mei fell in by my side. I was feeling good. Then I noticed a strange ball hovering over me.
"What is that?"
"An orb of Harmony," Zenyatta said. "It is giving you a much needed boost."
Fucking Ominc. Just knowing that he was helping me made me angry. Better that then feeling whatever it was when it was just Mei around.
We didn't have to wait long until we ran into more Talon mercs. They were by the house that Tracer was pinned down at, and if I had to bet, they were going to prevent her from leaving at all.
Rockets blasted their position, but it was covering fire. I looked to the sky and I could see Fareeha, flying about with some kind of damned rocket jet pack. If I wasn't so attached to my cannon, I would want a gun like that.
But my cannon had a graviton surge. Did hers have that? Probably not.
"Let me get this," I said, lobbing the surge towards the group. Gravity fluxed, and they were pulled into the singularity. Fareeha must have seen it, because she let lose a barrage of rockets that obliterated them.
"Gravity kills! And rockets sure do help," I laughed.
I looked to the tiny shack that Tracer was at. Morrison was sprinting up to her.
"'Bout time the cavalry got 'ere!" It had to be Tracer.
"Damn right," Morrison said. "Now let's move. Fall back!"
I was peppering the surviving Talon men with explosive shots, just to keep them at bay. I paused to reload, and that's when a whole group pressed the attack.
They must have been waiting for a lull in the bombardment. I was to used to working with more people; I forgot that there was no one to cover my reloads. I pressed the barrier button, just as they let loose with a withering barrage. I had to fall back.
The barrier ended, and my shields quickly drained. They were surging, attacking en masse. I was at full charge, but I wouldn't be able to take them all out, not in time.
Funny. I always figured I would die at the hands of an Omnic.
Suddenly, the temperature dropped. It quickly felt like home. What was causing that?
I looked up at the attacking group. A massive blizzard had spawned in the middle of them, freezing them solid.
"Zarya, are you alright?" It was Mei. She was at my side, and looked like she threw some kind of drone.
"Da, just shaken."
"Good." How could she smile so big? Forget her eyes, it's that damn smile that is trouble. "They looked like they needed a time out."
"Let's make sure they don't get a time in, yes?"
With my cannon at full charge, it was easy to cut the frozen terrorists down.
"We must leave," Zenyatta said. Damn, I had hoped that someone would kill him. "Jack would be waiting for us at the jet."
I made sure to watch our backs as we ran back to the ship. We were last, but Morrison, Ana and Fareeha were waiting, sweeping the area with their guns and a rocket launcher. Tracer was there, carrying a large briefcase.
"One Talon case of intel, just as ordered!" She cheerily said.
"Good work," Morrison said. "Get on board, we need to leave."
"Da, that we do," I said, climbing aboard. I gave Mei a hand, and pulled her into the jet. She was so light. She smiled, and sat next to me. This had to be some kind of test. No way this place was safe. "A quick mission to get the blood pumping."
"Sure wasn't quick to me," Tracer laughed. "Still, all's well that ends well! I didn't miss dinner, did I? I'm starving."