PLEASE READ A/Ns
Hey guys! Before we begin, I have an announcement!
In a few days, it'll be the one-year anniversary of OWLT being posted on FFN. To celebrate, I'm letting you guys pick the topic of the chapter. It can be either
A: The normal chapter I have planned
B: An interlude focusing on Talon, with them interacting in a non-combat situation
C: A flashback to a happy memory of Overwatch before it disbanded
Just gimme one of the letters in a review, and let me know what you think of this loooong chapter. A lot happens in it.
Enjoy!
Chapter 28- Fights
"How much longer until we're there?" Efi asked as she bounced next to Hana, who was flying their jet to Numbani. Orisa, McCree, and Genji were in the back of the ship. Lúcio had stayed back at Gibraltar reluctantly, since Hana had insisted on going but somebody needed to be present at Gibraltar. McCree was pacing, though Genji and Orisa seemed to just be watching everyone.
"I'd say half an hour…" Hana muttered as she focused intently on steering the jet. Right next to her sat the chronal accelerator on the charging port, which was attached to an extension cord running to a European outlet on the wall. She couldn't be more than a couple feet from the device, leaving her tethered to the ship, but she had insisted on coming. Hana refused to sit by when she knew the most about what Talon was going to do. If anything, she was the best pilot out of everyone on the jet. And if nothing else, Hana could guard the ship while everyone was gone.
"Why are we on a ship without the Overwatch logo, though? Agent McCree was extraordinarily specific about that." Efi sat on the floor next to the chronal accelerator as she idly checked its components.
Hana hummed. "This mission is the textbook definition of unauthorised. Just in case something goes wrong, we're better off not getting Overwatch blamed for things. To be safe." She checked the map, making sure they were still on course.
"You said you saw all this stuff happen in advanced…" Efi changed the subject as she set the chronal accelerator down and began pacing next to Hana's chair. "Did you see what would happen if you hadn't dreamed about that event, or was the event pre-determined, even if we stepped in?"
Hana stammered. "I… I don't know. I hope we can stop this, though."
"What does Talon even want with my OR15 data? Most of it is detailing their coding and how I integrated Orisa's code with the extra technology I integrated."
"You think they want to make their own OR15s?" Hana asked as she began to bounce her leg up and down nervously.
"Why would they? The OR15s are guard Omnics. And if they wanted to reprogram them, I don't see why they'd choose OR15s. If they wanted to, they could have used the OR14 Null Sector tech. I remember a few people mentioning how that hacker lady had some of their stuff fused with her body. So, they have Null Sector, and by extension, probably OR14 tech on hand. Why go for the prettier, more defence-oriented model?"
D,va loosened her grip on one of the handles for the plane, stretching her fingers as she took a deep breath. "I don't know. Maybe they just want better security for their bases."
"But why are they robbing my lab?" Efi repeated, more out of spite than anything. Hana shrugged.
"I don't know… I'm more worried about that man, though. I just hope we get there in time to save him…"
Efi whimpered. "I do too… he doesn't deserve to die…. Imagine how that'd hurt Tracer, too…"
Hana blinked. "I mean, Slipstream can't feel hurt right now, I promise…"
"I don't mean Slipstream. I mean Tracer! Think about it, when we get her back on our side, and get that machine out of her head, don't you think she'd feel awful for that?" Efi mused, her gaze on the starry sky in front of them.
Hana paused. "You know, that's true. But she's going to feel horrible no matter what she's done before we get the sympathiser out. Just going from being in her shoes then going back to having my own mind hurt."
Efi gasped. "Oh! I didn't even think to ask about that! I'm so sorry!"
D,va chuckled. "No, no, don't worry about that. It was just some whiplash. The dreams are pretty vivid, but they do have that 'dream' vibe to them, like you know it wasn't something you actually experienced, so that makes it a bit easier," Hana half-lied. The truth was that it still sucked as she had to wait in that vat of nothingness with the barrage of sorrow after nothing but glee, but she could only imagine what it would be like for Slipstream. "But I can guarantee it'll be worse for Lena. Her entire mind-set is all messed up. She is loyal to Reaper, but she doesn't really give much thought as to why."
"That seems… weird," Efi said lamely as she circled Hana's seat. "Though, as far as you can tell, was she being honest about the sympathiser? Does it really just remove negative emotions?"
"As far as I could tell, yeah," Hana admitted reluctantly. "There were a few flashes of her thinking back to her torture… and they were funny to her. Not even for any logical reason. It was just funny."
Efi hesitated. "Do you… do you know anything useful about what exactly that torture was? That way we could help her more when we save her, in case she doesn't want to talk…"
"It's blurry… like she can remember it all just fine but just… hasn't brought the memory to the surface often. I only know about snippets, and I don't have any of the context to them." Hana stared straight ahead, partly hoping Efi would stop asking her questions.
"Oh… I gotcha… sorry to pry…" There was an awkward silence between the two. Efi continued pacing, clearly nervous.
Hana's gaze trailed to the chronal accelerator she was tethered to. It didn't take more than a couple feet's distance for her to begin feeling the effect of her condition again, as she had discovered fairly quickly. The chronal accelerator radiated such an odd aura, like a blanket of security hidden inside a world of cold chaos. She could feel the tug of the device, making her want to be as close to it as humanly possible.
Efi noticed D,va staring at the harness. "Oh! Are you feeling alright? Is the accelerator working?"
"Oh, it's working great. Don't worry about that," Hana comforted with a smile, focusing her attention back on the controls. "I'm just wondering… can you feel it? The harness, I mean?"
Efi blinked. "I can touch it, if that's what you mean. Other than that, no. Though I do start feeling sick to my stomach if I stick my hand where that pink gear is," she mused.
Curious, Hana stuck her hand where Efi described. Her hand felt warm, like it was protected on all sides as the gentle pink light seemed to dance around her fingertips. "That's so strange… I feel the harness' energy. It's like a beacon trying to guide me to it. I'd wager if you hid it, I'd be able to find it."
"So, you can sense the chronal energy? Do you think you could sense the energy from Slipstream's harness?" Efi asked with renewed eagerness.
"I mean, now that I know what it feels like… possibly? I couldn't answer that definitively."
"Well, if you do feel her, let us know!" Efi ordered with new enthusiasm.
D,va laughed. "Yeah okay, I will, don't worry about that. I'm not going to hide it from you guys if I know where she is!"
"I'm sorry I couldn't make a battery…" Efi finally said after a few minutes of silence.
"Don't be," Hana stated firmly. "You've done so much already. You need to stop feeling bad for things that you didn't even do wrong."
"But it's just a battery! You wouldn't even think it'd be that hard!"
Hana raised an eyebrow. "How does the battery work anyway? Like, what does the power do?" Hana blinked. "Okay that's a really hard question to word." She was hoping to get the child to stop blaming herself by distracting her a bit.
Efi chewed on her fingernail for a moment. "No, I think I understand the question. You mean how does the device actually stabilize you?"
Hana nodded. "Yeah, kinda. Try to dumb it down to my level though," she said with a smirk.
Efi giggled and nodded. "Well, it's kinda weird to explain, but according to the documents from Winston that I read, your body has become infused with a sort of energy that everyone's dubbed chronal energy. And picture the energy like a magnet. Like, there's a negative chronal energy and a positive chronal energy. The kind in your body that destabilised you is… we'll say it's the negative kind. Meanwhile, the positive energy is what pulls you away. It's the opposite of yours, and since it's like a magnet, they attract."
"So, let me get this straight." Hana reiterated Efi's points. "The Toy or that jet crash released negative chronal energy, and that's like, a part of Lena or my body now. But the natural chronal energy of the world is positive, and because of that, it tries to attract the negative energy, and by extension, me, away."
Efi nodded. "Both the Toy and Slipstream jet's teleportation matrix were discharging the negative energy to intentionally harness that power. The positive energy that is basically a part of time itself is what they took and converted to negative to use. But because you were basically submerged in that power, now the positive energy is constantly trying to pull you away. That's why you were always not totally present. A part of you was always being pulled away towards the opposite of your energy."
"But wait," Hana paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "If I was constantly being pulled towards positive energy, why did I disappear only some of the time? Wouldn't I either be always semi-present or completely destabilised?"
"Chronal energy is naturally volatile," Efi said without missing a beat. "It ebbs and flows in how powerful it is. Like a river. Sometimes it's super strong, other times it's manageable. Of course, this doesn't impact day-to-day life for anyone that isn't sensitive to such energy, but when there's more of the positive energy, it's like a more powerful magnet that's trying to reach you."
Hana's gaze trailed to the device keeping her grounded. "Negative energy is what I'm covered in, positive energy is pulling me away… but where does the harness come in?"
Efi's eyes lit up. "Oh, it's a super clever device! Essentially, it pulls in the raw, unconverted positive energy in massive, compact amounts! So much so that it overrides the pull of Time. Like if I had two magnets, and one was a huge electromagnet and another was from a dollar store. If there was a piece of metal they were trying to attract, the metal would go to the giant magnet."
"So basically, the harness is more powerful than the pull of time?" Hana asked, suddenly much warier of the device.
"I wouldn't say it's more powerful. More like it's more concentrated," Efi had gone back to pacing around the chair as her voice sped up. "All the energy of the universe isn't in a position where it can reach you, as it were. There's way more of it, but it's thinly spread. Meanwhile the harness is an extremely concentrated amount of intense energy. It cancels out the magnet of the universe by being closer and immediately stronger. And because the positive energy is right by you, your body stays intact and you don't go anywhen."
Hana's eyebrows shot up. "Woah. You mean I'm being attracted to that thing like a magnet?"
"Only the chronal energy in you. Like how blood would be attracted to a strong magnet because of its teeny bit of iron. Not enough to be hugely noticeable most of the time. Which is why you're not sticking to the harness like glue." Efi giggled at the thought. "That would look funny though!"
"Yeah, for everyone except me," Hana joked. "But that's a weird thought. I just assumed that the harness cancelled out the chronal disassociation, not just attracted me or whatever."
"Yeah, the harness needs to be working around the clock with a ton of energy to keep you here, which is part of the issue with finding a battery." Efi seemed to deflate as she settled down on the floor, leaning against the wall. "The harness uses normal power to generate chronal power, but there's no way to store it without a battery. The chronal energy is so finicky to store, though. Not to mention there needs to be a ton of it to last several hours."
"Why can't you use a normal battery that gives energy to the harness to convert then?" Hana asked, focusing her gaze back out on the sky.
"That's not possible. Remember, normal electronics are unreliable around chronal energy. Only incredibly specific things can withstand constant surges of it. A normal battery would probably explode."
"Okay then yeah no thanks," Hana chuckled. "I'd like to not be exploded."
Efi sighed. "So that means we need an ultra-strong battery made for chronal energy if we want the harness to be the least bit safe, but they're so expensive… I don't know how we'll get one… but I'll figure something out! I promise!" She jumped up and clapped her fist to her palm. "I can get some more grant money! Or I can sell my old inventions! I'll get a job at a university! Something!"
Hana put her hand up and cut off the child. "Okay, you need to calm down," she stated plainly. Efi paused and stared at D,va in confusion. "You've been working yourself way too hard lately. Especially for someone so young. You got me here, you got me stable, and as much as I would love to have a full-functioning harness, I'm not putting that above your well-being."
"But you need a harness! I need to get you one!"
Hana shook her head. "You need to stop blaming yourself got not being able to get something so expensive. It's not your fault in the slightest, and to think it is… that's just silly."
"But... I'm supposed to help you, and I can't do that…" Efi squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her eyes.
"You've helped a ton." Hana took one hand off the jet controls and put her hand around Efi's shoulder, pulling her closer. "You've helped way more than any kid, and even most adults your age would ever be able to. If anything, this is my fault for getting myself into this mess in the first place."
"No, it's not! Talon was…" Hana interrupted the child.
"Yeah, I know what Talon was doing. But it was still my impulsive decision."
"I still say it wasn't your fault," Efi stomped her foot on the ground and crossed her arms to prove her point. Hana chuckled.
"Then how about we just both agree that me getting chronal disassociation wasn't my fault, and you not being able to get a battery isn't yours?"
"But…"
"Nope. No buts," Hana said. "Not your fault, not mine. Deal?"
Efi sniffed but also seemed to laugh at the same time. "Okay, okay, deal!"
The two remained comfortably silent for several seconds before Efi hummed.
"Do you regret taking the Toy off?" she asked nervously.
Hana paused, trying to think about how she should answer the question. "I try not to," she finally admitted.
"Meaning that you do sometimes?" Efi pressed, her voice quiet.
Hana sighed. "I took it off in hopes of being able to convince Tracer that she didn't need to stay with Talon. But that didn't work. In the end, it was really for nothing."
"That sounds horrible…" Efi admitted.
"It's not all bad though." Hana smiled. Efi's eyebrows shot up as she stuttered in surprise.
"I've gotten to learn more about people, you know. About Slipstream, McCree, Genji, even Sombra. I can understand them better."
"Sombra? The hacker?"
Hana nodded. "That's the one. I can't say for certain yet what her motives are or what she's going to do, but she's really not as bad as everyone thinks."
"How so?"
"She was actually pretty nice to Lena back when Reaper was… uh… hurting her, for one." Efi grimaced as she remembered the horrible video Reaper sent. "Even though she wasn't supposed to, she still sneaked her a drink. Though, Lena said the wrong things and got under her skin. She seemed genuinely distressed…"
"Maybe we can reason with her then!" Efi offered with newfound hope. "Maybe we can get her to help us!"
"You know, maybe. But we can't just walk up and talk to her. That would never work. But if she was honest in what I saw, we may have another ally. Just… let's wait and see how it plays out for a bit though."
Efi nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I seriously hope she does help us!"
"And if she does, you'd better believe my first words to you will be 'I told you so.' Just stating it now." It was true, now that Hana thought about it. While some experiences with the harness were less pleasant than others, there were definitely advantages to her dreams. That begged the question. Should she try to exploit the dreams? Maybe they could gain an advantage on Talon's plan. Hana felt strangely uneasy at the thought. The thing about her dreams was that she was entering people's minds. That was such a private place, and Hana was just barging in. It was fine when she had no control over it, but intentionally reading people's thoughts seemed like it'd be going a step to far. Hana decided to shelf the thought.
"Think we can get Agent McCree and Genji to place bets against us on whether or not Sombra helps us?"
Hana smirked. "Oh, let's totally do it."
…
"No way in Hell can we take the kid with us!" McCree shouted as Hana prepared to land the jet just outside Numbani, where Efi's lab would be a couple miles away.
"We have little choice," Genji pressed. "She knows where the lab is, and she could recognize any stolen technology," Genji argued, fitting his visor into place as he inserted some shurikens into the slots on his arm.
"Are a couple minor conveniences worth putting her life in danger like that, though?" McCree shot back, already standing at the door with Peacekeeper hidden from sight. "We're talking about asking her to guide us to where a group of terrorists are ransacking a building for weapons. That is NOT happening!"
Efi crossed her arms as she sat on the table. "Do I get any say in this? You guys don't need to worry about me! I'll go with Orisa until we're a half a kilometre away and let you guys take over. When you manage to stop them, I'll come in and see what they messed with."
McCree paused. "How long is a kilometre?"
"About half of a mile. It's really not that hard to remember," Genji said. McCree huffed.
"So, about a quarter mile off… that's still way too close!"
"Not to break up the girl scout's meeting," Hana interjected from the cockpit. "But we're about to land, so decide fast."
"I'll come, don't worry about me!" Efi declared, hopping up onto Orisa's back. "I'll be fine!"
"Efi, I have some concerns with this arrangement." The Omnic rotated her head as far as she could to look at the child. "Your safety is my top priority, and this will jeopardise it greatly."
"Well, the way I see it," Efi began with the sly smile only a child could muster. "Either you let me come, or I follow anyway but without your protection, so no matter which way you slice it, if you don't let me come I'll be in even more danger!"
Orisa seemed to pause. "I insist that you wait here. I would not be fulfilling my duties as a guardian if I allowed you to join us."
"Nope!" Efi declared proudly, not budging from Orisa's back. "I'm coming, and that's final!"
"I am not okay with this in the slightest," McCree added as he leaned against the wall. "I don't want to have to be responsible for you getting killed."
"I'm not going to get killed!" Efi promised. "Look, I know it's dangerous. Really, I do! But this is my research we're talking about! I've poured hundreds of hours into that stuff! I can't just stand aside and let you guys go there without me!"
McCree stuttered. "But you've got absolutely no means of protectin' yourself! And don't just say 'gimme a gun' because those things are not something to be handed out freely to someone that's never shot before."
Efi frowned. "You're acting like I've never been in a dangerous situation before. But I was at the airport Doomfist attacked. I saw him attack those OR15s! He even hurt some Omnics and people that got in his way! I know how dangerous the people from Talon can be! I saw the video Reaper sent out! I'm not charging into this blindly and optimistically, but I'm our best bet of getting their quickly!"
Everybody paused, blinking in surprise.
"You saw Doomfist?" Genji asked, he clenched his fists as he said the name. Hana couldn't help but remember the dream where the man had ripped out Tracer's chronal accelerator.
"Yeah? Why?" Efi shook her head. "That's not important now, though! I'm still coming!"
"Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt again," Hana began. "But I don't remember Doomfist being on this mission, first up."
"D,va!" McCree said, drawing the gamer's attention. "Can't ya force the kid to stay on the ship?"
Hana shook her head. "Uh, no, I can't. If she manages to get out of this ship, which I'm sure she can do, I can't follow her." She nodded to her chronal accelerator, still plugged into the charger via a long cable. "I'm tethered to the ship, remember? If you want my two cents though, I say don't judge her from age. I'm probably bias though." Hana turned to focus on landing the ship in an empty clearing on the outskirts of the city.
"…Shit. There's no way I'm winning this argument, is there?" McCree finally conceded. "Fine. The kid will come. But as soon as we get remotely close to her lab, she is not getting an inch closer until it's safe."
Orisa nodded. "Does that satisfy you, Efi?"
The girl nodded cheerily from Orisa's back. "Yep!"
Hana settled the ship on the grass below as the hum of the engines died down. "I'm going to have to keep this bird in the air for the record, since this jet's landing is super unauthorised and it might attract attention. Just let me know where pickup is. I'll be on comm."
Everybody nodded as D,va opened up the door to the ship. Genji darted out of the ship first with McCree following close behind.
"Efi, hold on tight please," Orisa warned. Efi wrapped her arms around the Omnic's torso as the centaur bot galloped off after the other agents. Once they were out of sight, Hana sighed, desperately wishing she could get in her mech and follow. But it was okay. She was here. She was present. That was all she could ask, even if she was stuck on a leash. She was here.
…
McCree and Genji methodically wove their way through the city as the sky slowly but steadily began to go from a dark blue to a pale grey. Genji had turned the lights on his body off, and McCree had left his noisy spurs on the ship. Without any flashy paraphernalia, the two remained completely unnoticed by all civilians. They ducked in and out of alleys, trailing after Efi as she walked alongside Orisa on the familiar streets of her hometown. She chattered idly into the mic as they walked.
"Over there is a great place to get paints, they have only the best of the best! And over there is my favourite place to commission the parts I need specially made!" she pointed to several buildings as they walked. "And over there serves the best ice cream in the world!"
Genji chuckled in amusement as the child gushed about carious spots in Numbani while McCree just tolerated it, at least appreciative the kid was venting her nervousness in a way that didn't involve outright panicking.
"Kid, how much longer until we reach your street?"
"Not far," Efi answered quickly. "But we still got a couple minutes ahead of us, don't worry!"
The group travelled in silence for several more minutes until Orisa spoke up.
"Efi, this is approximately one-half of a kilometre away from the lab."
"Aww, party pooper. I was hoping to get to go at least a little bit further!"
"Alright Kid, that's enough for you then. Where do we go from here?" McCree asked over the mic.
"It should be just down this road and across the street," Efi responded in a bored tone. "It's next to a mechanics shop. You can't miss it."
Then Efi smelled it. She wrinkled her nose. "Do… do you guys smell that?" It smells like… like blood…
The two agents reacted immediately as they revealed themselves from alleys. Efi whipped her head around until her eyes settled on a nearby bush. There was a definite red puddle below it. "Oh my God…" she muttered, aghast. Genji darted over to the bush. He moved some of the branches out of his way, though Efi still couldn't see past him. He put her hand over where his mouth would be on his helmet.
Efi moved to walk over to the ninja, only for Orisa to firmly grab the child, showing no signs of letting her down. Efi squirmed in her grasp while McCree ran over to where Genji was. "Orisa, lemme down! I need to see!"
Genji backed away from the brush. "That is not anything you need to see," he said definitively. "And that is not anything you will see."
"Why? Is it a person? Are they dead?" she asked with growing panic. McCree nodded sombrely.
"Yeah. It is. Lena's pulse pistol, too. I'd recognise it anywhere.
Efi gasped. "You mean she actually killed someone?" she asked in awed horror. "But why?"
"She had to. At least in her eyes," Genji answered in a painfully neutral tone.
"We have to call the cops!" the child said in a rush. McCree cut her off.
"No, that's the last thing we want. Kid, Genji is on an unauthorised Overwatch mission, and I'm a criminal. Getting the authorities involved it a horrible idea. We'll have to wait until someone else discovers the body."
"But… we have to tell someone…"
"This is our best bet. Right now, Lena went to the trouble of hiding the body, meaning she isn't advertising her joining Talon yet. We still have time before she goes public. If people find out about this, then it'll be on worldwide news, no doubt.
Efi whimpered and hugged Orisa as best she could in her current position. "No… no… somebody is dead… somebody is dead…" Sobs began to wrack the child's chest.
"Orisa, get the kid out of here," McCree ordered. "Take her someplace safe then meet us back here."
The Omnic nodded. "Of course." Before she could go anywhere, Efi spoke up, her voice soft and her face full of tears as she shook.
"No, no. I'm fine. I'll go myself. You guys need to get to my lab. You might still have time…"
"Efi, are you certain you are in any state to go anywhere on your own?"
The girl nodded. "Yeah… the mission comes first…" Orisa slowly let the child down as McCree and Genji exchanged uneasy glances. Hana could do nothing more but sigh.
Mission over man. Why had Efi already picked up on that? She was only twelve.
…
"Um… I don't know if this is important, but we kinda have company," Sombra commed in. Slipstream whooped in excitement and jumped up from her spot on the roof. "Finally! Been looking for a proper fight! Who're we up against?"
Sombra went quiet for a moment. "Sounds like the cowboy, cyborg, and OR15."
"Ooh! This'll be a good time then!" Slipstream stretched as she prepared to jump off the roof of the building.
"Wait," Reaper ordered. Instantly, Slipstream froze, neutralising her expression as she awaited orders. "We found all that we needed. Widowmaker is on her way with the jet. We will meet us here. Slipstream, your job is to keep the cargo safe."
"Aye aye, Sir!" Slipstream crouched back down on the roof and waited. It wasn't more than a couple minutes before she saw her old friends. They thought they were being subtle, sneaking around in an alley, but to that, Slipstream says nope!
She bounded to the ground to where her old co-workers seemed unsurprised that she showed up in front of them. Pale sunlight was filtering in through the gap between two mundane shops, though none of it compared to the vivid shine of her harness and eyes as they returned her eager smirk with stony glares.
"Howdy there, Cowboy!" Lena greeted with a wave as she bounced from leg to leg, staring down the two boys. She turned to Genji. "How do you say 'hi' in Japanese?"
"Lena, please don't make us fight you," Genji pleaded, though he was already in a defensive stance, prepared at any moment for her to lash out.
"You do realise that asking me not to do something just makes me not wanna do it more, right? That's like, basic-human-nature-101." Slipstream leaned against the wall of the building nonchalantly, pulling on of her pistols from her holster. It was still stained with the splatter blood of the man from earlier. She frowned and rubbed at the stain with her fingerless glove, only for some of it to smear onto her hand. She grunted and gave up with a shrug as she pulled out her other pistol and pointed one at each of the agents.
Genji reacted first as he slid a shuriken out of his arm and launched it at Lena's leg. She grinned and blinked against the wall, using the surface to jump behind him. She tapped his back. "Tag!" McCree drew Peacekeeper and fired at her shoulder this time. She yelped and jumped out of the way, blinking behind the cyborg, using him as makeshift cover from McCree. She quickly unloaded her gun into Genji's shoulder, severely damaging the metal as he whipped around with his knife in hand. Lena ducked away as the blade grazed her clothes.
"Oi! This outfit isn't cheap, ya know?" she joked, laughing as she jumped back against the wall, pushing off to slide under Genji. She used her hands to push herself off the ground while delivering a swift kick to Jesse's chin. She spun around with a giggle as she used her gun as a shield from the Sparrow's knife. In that time, a loud bang went off and Slipstream toppled to the ground with her prosthetic leaking oil.
"Ooh! Nice shot!" she complimented. There was a loud pop, and Slipstream moved backward in time, stopping at the moment where her gun was suspended over her head. She completed the movement by shooting at Jesse while he instinctively blocked the bullets with his prosthetic, firing Peacekeeper with his other hand, his aim true as the bullet dug into Lena's prosthetic. She recalled again, but Genji was ready as he threw a shuriken into her arm, cutting away the fabric and digging into her scarred forearm.
"Slipstream! You're outmatched! Back out of there!" Sombra called over the microphone.
"Roger that!" she responded as she pulled the Shuriken out of her arm, ignoring the warm blood gushing from her wound and staining her clothes.
"Halt!" called another voice from behind as Tracer was about to blink away. She turned around, it was the refurbished OR15, holding her hand out like a cross-guard. "I cannot allow you to leave this area!"
"Ooh! Shiny!" Slipstream complimented, as she blinked again to avoid another shot from Jesse. "Sadly, though, that ain't gonna fly with me! See ya!" she crouched low to the ground, activating a blink as she launched herself to the wall of the building, using it as a foothold to jump to the other in a makeshift wall-jump while her harness left a neon pink trail behind her. She was almost to the roof of the building when she felt an increased tugging that killed her momentum and yanked her to the ground. She was vaguely aware of a giant orb that had pulled her back before she hit the ground, tucking and rolling to avoid hurting herself.
McCree didn't miss a beat, firing again as he managed to hit her prosthetic, forcing Lena to recall back down to the ground where Genji grabbed her by the wrist and prepared to hit her in the head to knock her out.
"Aww, why do you need to spoil my fun?" Slipstream pouted, though she was leaning away from Genji in some sort of hope that that would stop him from knocking her out cold. "Uh, I could use a hand here!" She called into the mic, knowing there was no way she could win on her own. Black smoke began to coil around people's legs. Reaper materialised just as Genji's fist was about to make contact with Slipstream's head, grabbing the cyborg's arm and separating him and Lena.
"Slipstream, take care of the OR15," he ordered. "Sombra, deal with the cyborg. The cowboy is mine."
Genji and McCree froze, Genji pulled his hand away and rolled to sweep Reyes' legs out from under him, only for him to burst into smoke one second and begin surrounding Jesse. The cowboy backed away, firing into the concrete, apparently not damaging Reaper in the slightest.
Slipstream hummed. "Say! Sombra! Do you know where that little girl is?" she asked, drawing the Omnic's attention immediately.
"I'm not certain, but they're prepping to pick her up in the jet."
Slipstream grinned. "Really? Alright! Thanks! Imma go over there, then!" She bluffed, jumping up and blinking past the OR15.
"Halt! You will not go anywhere near Efi!"
"Catch me if you can, then!" She waved, blinking off as Orisa ran after Slipstream in hot pursuit. Genji moved to chase after them, only to be stopped by a voice in his head.
"Hello, Sparrow. You, me, we need to talk." Genji froze, tearing off his visor as he shook his head.
"You! Sombra! How did you get into my systems! Get out! Get out now!" He responded mentally, clutching his head.
Sombra stuttered. "Okay, okay, but listen up. I'm going to change the colour of your visor to purple, then you're going to come across the street, inside the lab. Pretend like I'm controlling you!"
"Why would I do that?" Genji spat, already preparing to help McCree.
"Just do it! I need to give you something important, and I can help you with Slipstream! Efi isn't really where Slipstream is running! She was only bluffing!"
Genji froze momentarily, considering his options. "If this is a trap, I will kill you."
"You'll have to get in line," Sombra snarled. "Now hurry up!"
The cyborg finally conceded, clicking his visor into place. A moment later, it took on a purple hue. He ran across the road, making sure his movements were clean and precise with no variation in his steps.
…
Orisa chased furiously after the pink-clad agent, freezing to a halt only when Slipstream did the same, spinning around to face her in a deserted part of town behind some shadier shops.
"Man! I can't believe you actually bought that!" Slipstream giggled as Orisa's slit eyes turned into giant O's. "Of course, I don't know where the kiddo is! But now that you're here…" Lena jumped to the side, flanking Orisa as she unloaded a clip of bullets into the centaur's side. The Omnic made unintelligible whirring noises as some sort of distress call. She turned around to kick Slipstream, only for the agent to duck and slide under Orisa's stomach, firing into the meticulously painted metal before pulling herself out and upright.
Orisa aimed at Slipstream as bullets shot from the gun on her arm, which she expertly maneuvered around. Thinking fast, Orisa released a Graviton charge, which seemed to reach out and latch onto Slipstreams chest. Orisa fired at the charge and activated it, slingshotting the Talon agent into the barrage of bullets and the wall of the shop behind them. She grunted as her harness let out a small spray of sparks while she left a sizable dent in the wall. Orisa moved in to pin Slipstream, so Slipstream blinked over her, appearing behind the Omnic. But Orisa was ready, launching a graviton charge behind her, which threw Lena back towards the wall, loosening some of the bricks as she clasped her hands over her head to prevent any major injuries. Orisa grabbed onto Slipstream's harness, about to rip it off, but Lena smirked and interrupted the movement by recalling as Time forced her out of the vice grip and brought her behind Orisa. She threw herself onto the centaur's back grabbing on of Orisa's horns and twisting it to the side as she jumped off the opposite side, throwing the Omnic off balance. Orisa lashed out with the side of her gun, twisting to hit Slipstream in the chest with it as she dodged out of the way. She took advantage of the opening, giggling as she darted in front of Orisa, her pink eyes full of childlike mirth as she fired at the Omnic's face, twisting and distorting the metal, sealing one of Orisa's eyes shut and damaging the other. She reared back, kicking her forelegs as she slammed down to the ground, cracking the pavement beneath her as Slipstream kicked off the wall and moved to the back of the Omnic, holding her hands behind her back as she admired her handiwork.
"Slipstream, return to the lab for pickup," Slipstream heard Widowmaker call through the communicator.
"Aww, just when I was about to start having fun!"
…
Genji drew a shuriken as he entered the lab. It had been quite clearly ransacked, with mechanical parts strewn about the room with drawers lying open and dumped out. Sombra was waited in there for him as she twirled her gun in her hand. She leaned against a wall that was out of sight of any of the windows or doorway.
"You had best make this fast," Genji began, in an offensive stance. "And if you try anything, I will kill you before you can so much as blink."
Sombra rolled her eyes, unimpressed. She tossed something onto the floor in front of him. It was a tiny device that had been crushed in her palm. It looked like a communicator.
"I learned the hard way that destroying a communicator is way more convincing for my shady dealings. Shady by Talon's standards, at least. Does that still make them shady, or is that like a double negative?" Sombra mused casually.
"You're going behind Talon's back?" Genji asked sceptically.
"Okay, contrary to popular belief, I'm not a murderous psychopath that thirsts for the pain of others."
"Says the woman who kidnapped Tracer for torture," he spat, clenching his fist.
Sombra rubbed her temples. "That is not something I'm exactly proud of right now. So, before you can say anything or yell at me for the stupid things I've done, just take this." She tossed something else to the cyborg. He caught it deftly, flipping it over in his hand. It easily fit in his palm, and had several open ports, though the device had no immediately obvious function.
"Now before you ask, no I didn't bug that thing. You can take it apart and put it back together and you won't find anything," Sombra began as Genji looked at the object, perplexed. "Give it to the kid and I guarantee she'll know what to do with it. Please don't break it though, it costs a ton, and I had to pretend that was going towards translocator upgrades."
"And why should I believe this device isn't some sort of trap?" Genji asked, holding it warily.
The hacker sighed. "Because I broke my communicator, haven't even tried to take control of your systems aside from the light changing thing, and I am about to tell you where we plan to go next." Genji waited for her to continue. "King's Row, in five days. More specifically, the Underworld power plant."
"Why?" the ninja asked quickly. "What do you need from King's Row? Why did you need OR15 tech from here?"
Sombra shook her head. "I can't reveal all of Talon's secrets, as much as I actually would love to do so. If you want me to sneak info to you, it can't be all of it. There's no way you can suddenly know everything we're doing and NOT have the higher-ups not get suspicious of me. Come on, this is back-end dealing 101. Also, there's another rally being held there by the Omnics and humans to celebrate Mondatta's life and whatnot. I'd really appreciate it if you could pretend like that was your main reason for being there."
"That's when you plan on flaunting around Slipstream, isn't it?" his voice was quiet and cold.
"Flaunting makes us sound so evil," Sombra whined, though her voice was tinged with worry. "To answer your question though, that's one of our objectives. How you react to that info is your business."
Genji tilted his head. "And why is it you have so suddenly decided to offer us your help?"
"That is a great mystery for the ages," Sombra said hastily, making it obvious she had no intentions of answering.
"If you think whatever game you're playing at here will make me overlook what you did to Tracer, you are sorely mistaken."
She held up her hands. "I never said I thought it would. I never even said I wanted it to, so just calm down. Now, I have a weird request."
Genji scoffed. "Don't expect much from me."
"Can you punch m-?"
Sombra yelped as Genji dashed forward, slamming his fist into her shoulder. She flew backward, tumbling into a pile of electronics in a dazed heap. She groaned as she lay in an uncomfortable position within the pile of miscellaneous devices. "You're not even going to ask why?" she moaned indignantly. She tentatively tapped her shoulder, only to recoil in pain, grimacing. "God damn, I think you broke something."
"It's only a flesh wound," Genji promised, waving her off. "And it's not like you don't deserve that."
"Okay, fair point…"
There was the distinct hum of a jet outside.
…
"Howdy, Reyes. Long time, no see." McCree greeted coldly.
Reaper chuckled. "Indeed, it has been. How have you been?" he asked in mock innocence.
"Everything was fine and dandy until you decided to butt back in."
"What ever do you mean?" the ghost asked. McCree knew. He knew he was being baited. But he didn't care.
"Oh, you know, kidnapping Lena and torturing her," he spat, his accent concealed by fury.
"You word it so harshly," Reaper tsked. "I was merely convincing Oxton that Talon could offer her more happiness than any makeshift solution Overwatch scrapped together."
"Bullshit!" McCree yelled, drawing Peacekeeper in a flash. "You gave her no choice! Either she had to suffer or do what you said! Don't pretend like she had a choice in the matter!"
"And yet, you can't argue with the result," Reaper taunted, with his only goal in mind being to get Jesse angry. "She is happier with Talon than she ever was with you lot."
"That's a load of bull and you know it!"
"Although, I must admit there was a certain satisfaction in slowly watching her break. She held out for quite a while."
"Be quiet!" McCree hissed, firing Peacekeeper at Reaper's mask. The man burst into smoke around the bullet, reforming once the danger was past.
"Her body had to be broken first. The electrocution did an alright job of that on its own, though she did a wonderful job at breaking herself. She put up a fight at every possible opportunity, allowing herself further punishment."
The cowboy fired again, emptying his revolver of bullets as Reaper easily wove around the shots. McCree hurried to reload as Reaper continued to muse.
"Her spirit came not long after I shattered her knee. Widowmaker told me about when the pet decided to seek comfort from her, of all people. Isn't that ironic?"
"She isn't your pet you bastard!" More shots rang out, none of the bullets hitting home.
"I'm willing to bet she was telling herself over and over again that you'd be there for her. That you'd manage to save her. But her heroes didn't come in time, did they? What a let-down that must have been for her. Her closest team members- abandoning her."
McCree roared. "That wasn't it and you know it! Shut your damn mouth!" He lunged at his former mentor, yet his hands closed around thin air as the man burst into smoke, circling Jesse. Reaper reformed behind him. McCree acted on instinct and got as close to the ground as possible, attempting to sweep Reaper's legs out from under him. He caught the man semi-off guard as he momentarily lost balance, though that didn't stop his shotgun from discharging as he blasted McCree in the side; his armour mostly protected him, though a couple bullets managed to pierce through as McCree grunted and rolled out of the way as he shot again, this time dodging the volley of projectiles. Jesse jumped to his feet and fanned the hammer of his revolver. Out of the six bullets, Reaper managed to avoid five as one embedded itself in his shoulder. He recoiled and grunted in annoyance.
The hum of a jet became more and more prominent as Reaper chuckled darkly. "Well, that sounds like it's my time to go. Do have yourself a wonderful day, Cowboy," he said in mock politeness.
"You ain't leavin' just yet!" McCree fired again, but it was in vain as Reaper burst into his wispy form and trailed out of the alley, to the clearing where a Talon jet was landing. McCree would have run after Reaper if it weren't for warning shot of a sniper rifle that forced him to take cover. It took a blur of neon pink to make him disregard the sniper entirely. As his peripheral vision caught Slipstream darting onto the ship, McCree dove out of his cover and attempted to aim Peacekeeper as a shot rang out. Instead of his head getting blown off, McCree was vaguely aware of green lights that moved between him and the jet.
"Honestly, you should at least try to remember all your training," Genji poked as he lowered the blade he had used to deflect the Widowmaker's bullet.
"Sorry, I was kinda focused on something," he retorted. He swore under his breath as Talon's jet took off, leaving them on the ground.
McCree tapped his communicator and spoke, "D,va, any chance you can get us? We gotta go after 'em!"
"On it!" Hana replied. "I already got Efi and Orisa! I'm doing a fly-by!"
Sure enough, a minute later, Hana arrived with the door to the jet open as Genji and McCree all but jumped inside.
"And take-off!" She shouted to them, already accelerating before the door was completely sealed shut as the wind tried to knock the two newcomers out of the jet.
Efi gasped. "Agent McCree! You're bleeding!"
McCree shook his head. "Nothing major, let's go!" The engines roared as Hana sped after the Talon jet, which had already had a couple minute's head-start by the time they were full-throttle.
"We are breaking about fifteen different air-travel laws, just FYI!" Hana half-yelled to the group as they chased the Talon jet, slowly gaining on it. "They're going to have to confront us soon, or else we'd be able to tail them to their base!"
Much to McCree's annoyance, Orisa used the precious couple of minutes to wrap his side in bandages. Genji had secured the item given to him my Sombra in one of the lockers secured to the jet. "Be ready, they're slowing down to engage!" Hana called. Orisa shot a small item onto the ground in front of the cockpit where Hana and Efi were as a barrier shot up and protected them from future incoming fire.
"Here we go…" Genji muttered as the black jet ahead began to slow noticeably. The land beneath them turned into ocean.
The door to the Talon plane began to open as the group caught up.
"Watch out!" Orisa held her hand out, right in front of Jesse's face as a faint bang was heard and a bullet pierced a small hole in the jet. The projectile buried itself into Orisa's hand, but she seemed unbothered as Hana opened the door to the jet. Wind began to tug at everyone as McCree held onto a handle by the door, whereas Genji and Orisa were more able to maintain footing with their augmentations. The cowboy quickly assessed what they could see of the Talon ship. Widowmaker was in the back, looking for an opportunity to shoot, while Slipstream was using a different pistol from her normal guns in the gauntlets on her waist, likely taken just for this situation. McCree fired at Widowmaker first, though the assassin managed to hit the floor of the deck as she predicted his shot.
Genji once more unsheathed his blade and used it to deflect a shot from the assassin, sparks jutting out from his blade while McCree used the opportunity to fire again. But instead of the headshot he was going for, the wind changed and the ship bounced upward, causing him to only hit her shoulder. Still, it was enough, as Widowmaker's gun clattered to the floor while she gripped her shoulder. Dark blood began to seep from the wound as she hurried out of view from the assailants.
Slipstream grinned, and blinked. The next instant, she had crossed the gap and was on the Overwatch ship. "Hello, Loves! How ya doing? Man, talk about a place to fight! Whoops!" she blinked out of the way of one of Jesse's shots. "Aww, we can't have you shooting me. That wouldn't do at all!"
"D,va! Close the door!"
"Roger!" she shouted.
Slipstream tsked. "That won't do, either!" She darted past the barrier Orisa put down and grabbed Hana's hand before she could press the button to close the hangar door. "Fancy device you got there!" she complimented. "I'm keen on the style! But it's missing something, isn't it?" What if I were to…" Hana's eyes widened.
"How about you don't do tha…" she was interrupted as Slipstream shot the cable attaching the chronal accelerator to the charger.
"Gotta go now, bye!"
"No! Don't!" Hana screeched. But it was too later. Slipstream grabbed Hana and threw her towards the door, then bounced out of the ship and onto her own while the light in D,va's harness flickered and died. She tried to close the door to the hangar but it was too late. Her form flickered as she once again destabilised. Unable to stop her momentum from Slipstream grabbing her, she fell out of the ship towards the ocean below.
The ship began to dive as Efi screeched from her hiding spot under the controls of the ship as she jumped out and attempted to steer the ship.
"Genji!" McCree shouted. The cyborg didn't waste any time, grabbing the chronal accelerator and the severed chord in the blink of an eye, using his hand to hold the two ends together as he ran to the door of the ship, wrapping the chord around his arm. He jumped out right as Hana began to free fall. McCree grabbed onto chord that ran to the charger, which was surprisingly long. Orisa joined in, grabbing the cowboy as she held firmly onto the ship.
Genji swung from the chord as the accelerator relit as he held the wires together. Efi, having managed to gain haphazard control of the jet, steered downward to where Hana was falling. She was about to hit the water when Genji grabbed onto her, the harness snapping her back to the present as their momentum continued their swing several metres. Hana was gasping for breath as Genji held onto her by the hip.
"Are you okay?" he asked as the wind whipped by them.
"I have no idea!" Hana shouted, though they could barely hear each other. The Talon ship grew further awat as McCree and Orisa pulled the twosome back onto the ship, wherein Efi immediately closed the door as the wind finally quieted. The panting of everyone's breath was painfully quiet compared to the fury from seconds ago.
"The charger…!" Hana gasped as she clutched her chest. Her voice was distorted, fading in and out. "I think it's broken…"
Genji kept a secure grip on the broken cord, but sure enough, the charger appeared ready to fall apart as it sparked sporadically. As soon as Genji set the device down, it seemed to fall apart as loose pieces detached themselves. Hana grimaced and sat down on the floor of the jet in an attempt to move as little as possible so as to prevent falling through the floor of the jet. Her form destabilised.
"Oh no… oh no… Efi repeated. "I'm going to take us back to my lab! We'll get there in no time and I'll fix the harness! You won't be gone for more than an hour!" Efi yelled from the cockpit, struggling to fly the jet.
Hana just rubbed her temples. She looked to Jesse and signed one of the few words she knew.
"Sorry."
McCree blinked. "Don't be. You didn't slow us down or make this a failure. We got a hit on the sniper, that'll hurt her shootin' arm for a few days."
Genji chimed in. "Not to mention, Sombra gave me some information about Talon's next move, and she gave me some piece of technology that seems useful for something."
The cowboy blinked. "Okay, first up, you trust her words? Second up, whatever she gave ya is probably gonna kill us all!"
"I don't think so… she was acting very different."
"That's not enough to- you know what?" he said, looking to Hana, who was just rubbing her temples to distract herself. "We'll have this argument later. That said, while I wish we could've gotten Lena… this wasn't a total failure, okay?"
Hana nodded noncommittedly. Then she blinked into nothingness.
McCree groaned immediately after Hana was gone. "God dammit, Genji. What weapon of mass destruction did that bitch give you?"
"Language!" Orisa chided from the side.
"I'm… not certain." Genji opened the locker and grabbed the device. "She said Efi would recognise it, though."
Efi perked up at the mention of her name. "Really? Bring it here."
Sure enough, Genji did. Efi gasped upon seeing it. The jet she had been struggling to control hiccupped as she used one hand to grab the device as she rolled it around in her hand in disbelief. "No way… she… she gave you this?"
"Yes…?" Genji replied, confused. "What exactly is it?"
"If it's what I think it is… Sombra just gave you a chronal battery."