"So, what did you find out?" Morrison asked as he studied Angela's notes on Alice's mental and psychical condition.

"Other than clear PTSD symptoms, her body and organs seem to be functioning just fine," Angela answered, standing in front of the commander. Morrison looked up from the notes she had given him as if he knew that the doctor was not telling him everything.

"I have seen her wander around headquarters during almost every night. She says it's because she can't sleep, but I believe it has something to do with the armor." Angela paused for a moment, considering whether or not she should break the trust she had built with the girl by telling the truth. "With the tests I was able to do with her agreement, I found out that her suit is working in a very similar way to Genji's. Just like Genji's armor, it's keeping her alive."

Angela put a reassuring hand on Commander's shoulder, smiling gently. Inside, she knew something Morrison didn't, and there was nothing she could do but believe that whatever was on her back would protect her. "She's strong and very much capable of keeping herself alive," Angela said. "It's just a stealth mission; she's not going to charge into the building like a certain cowboy. She's not stupid either, Alice is like a smaller, less grumpy version of Genji."

Morrison snickered at her comment. He couldn't help but notice the similarities between the two of them. Ignoring the suits they had to wear to stay alive; their voices, posture, and the times he caught them speaking Japanese to each other freely as if they knew each other much longer than he thought.

"Is there something wrong?" Angela's voice brought Morrison back to reality and he cleared his throat. "Weren't her parents not her biological ones?"

Angela's voice brought Morrison back to reality, and he cleared his throat. "Weren't her parents not her biological ones?"

"Well, yes, the DNA results confirmed it. Why are you asking this?"

"Did you find any relatives of hers, her real family?"

Angela shook her head, "No, I believe they are dead, but there's no certainty."

Morrison was silent for a moment in thought before saying, "Angela, would you mind doing me a favor?"

.

.

.

A few days later, Alice stood outside of the Overwatch hangar, a massive building located just outside the walls of the main base. She watched the agents preparing themselves for the mission to Italy. She spotted Genji and McCree near the cargo ramp of the airship, deep in conversation with each other. Alice backed away into a dark corner, noticing Angela walking with Commander Morrison. For the past few days, Alice had been avoiding the nice doctor completely, not even going to her medical room to tend to her wounds that she would occasionally sustain during training, choosing instead to fix them herself.

Alice sighed, the Shimada's katana slung over her shoulders as she boredly flexed her fingers.

"Nervous, kid?" Alice turned her head as Reyes's voice spoke in her ear and she noticed that the Commander snuck up on her without noticing.

"Not at all." She responded sarcastically. "It's not like I'm going to visit a building that is probably full of killing machines. I wouldn't surprised if they mistake me with their kind."

"Everything will be fine," Reyes assured her with the smallest hint of smile, "McCree and Genji will look after ya."

Alice couldn't help but scoff. "McCree maybe, but I doubt Genji would think twice before handing me over to them to get me out of his hair."

"If he does that, he'll have me to answer to," Reyes said with a chuckle. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. "Good luck, kid."

Reyes left her to go discuss the mission requirements with Genji, McCree and the other senior agents. The booming voice of Jesse McCree suddenly raised over the chaos around the hangar, ordering for the agents going on the mission to begin boarding the airship. Alice quickly hurried towards the ship after the rest of the agents.

The ride to Italy was rather quiet. Alice kept to herself, watching as several agents hustled to and fro, gathering supplies to the mission, while others sat back and chatted with each other. Alice spotted McCree Genji near the cockpit, presumably talking to the pilot. She tilted her head in curiosity, for a moment she was tempted to go join in on the conversation. She then realized that she was now in the field, and both Genji and McCree were her superiors. She had no idea how they would react if she butted in on their conversation. Deciding it was best to know her place as a new recruit and hang back until she was given orders, Alice leaned her head back on the seat behind her, closing her eyes and focusing on the quiet music that Khai-Ja was playing in her mind.

Gazing down at her hands, which were covered in metal, she sighed, trying to distract her mind from the hundreds of possibilities that could happen today. Alice groaned quietly, irritated by how nervous she was and that the music wasn't really helping. Her eyes wandered to the closed exit of the airship, then to the other senior agents who were conversing with one another. She looked around in confusion, realizing that Angela was missing. Tilting her head, she noticed that Moira was also missing, and that there were no medics on the airship. Or so she thought, but a woman with a sniper rifle slung over her shoulder was talking with another agent and handling some strange ammunition that wasn't typical for a sniper; instead, it appeared to be darts filled with a yellow liquid. Poison, Alice assumed.

After what seemed like hours, the pilot announced over the speaker that they were approaching Milan. Once there, she would lower the ship near the ground about a mile away from the omnium, so the agents could jump to the ground from the cargo hold and walk the rest of the way, avoiding drawing attention to themselves. Blackwatch was a convert division, after all; no one knew that it existed.

McCree suddenly appeared next to her, putting his hand on her shoulder, clearing his throat to get her and the rest of their team's attention. "Alright team, listen up." He paused, waiting for everyone to look at him, "The newbie is going to go first alone; we'll watch everything from the cameras, and after a few minutes, the rest of the team will join her. I'm gonna lead through the front, while Genji leads another to the back. Remember, it's a stealth mission. Our goal is to get in and out of there without being detected." Then he turned towards Alice, "If there's somethin' suspicious goin' on there, get back here as quickly as you can so we can report it to the base, got it? We're countin' on you to keep us safe."

Alice nodded, while others mumbled their responses. She remained silent, realizing how close they were to the omnium. It's a stealth mission, she repeated in her head; it means that this abandoned place probably isn't full of killing machines, and it's not like she's going to have to fight her way out, right? Looking at the McCree again, she realized that he was waiting for her response along with the other agents.

"I will do my best, Captain. I promise." Alice said, her voice quiet and unsure as if she wasn't sure herself if she could manage such a task. McCree nodded saying nothing as he turned away. Alice tilted her head, noticing that he was still wearing his cowboy boots, which made noise on the hard surface of the airship. She wondered if he was actually going on the mission wearing them or if he was going to change into something else. She knew that the cowboy wanted to be taken seriously as though he was Commander, though she could never take anyone seriously that unironically wore a cowboy hat.

Alice felt the airship drop a bit as it began to lower itself towards the ground, and she gripped the arm of the chair tightly. A loud buzz echoed through the cargo-hold, and the ramp slowly began to open, revealing the Italian countryside.

Turning around to look at the other agents, some of them muttered to her "Good luck." McCree nodded, gesturing to the exit of the airship. Alice walked slowly, looking at the ground surprised that she had to jump to reach it. Eyeing McCree one last time, she approached the edge of the ramp and looked out. The airship was only about 15 feet off the ground, the height was nothing compared to the tall buildings she used to jump from and swing around the city, especially at night when the lights of the buildings and street lamps were making the city laugh at the darkness, illuminating every single dark place. A moment later, she felt her feet hit the ground, though she immediately fell to the earth. A string of Japanese curses came out of her mouth as she straightened herself and noticed that most of the agents were looking at her confused, while only Genji, whose eyes were wide open, seemed to understand every single word and was surprised that she knew so many curses that he himself didn't even know.

'We have to get better at this.' She thought annoyed. Alice parted her lips to apologize, realizing that he must have heard everything, but Genji didn't give her the chance, perhaps afraid of her response, he quickly left somewhere inside the airship. Alice shrug it off. Now that they had arrived in Milan, she had to focus on the mission.

It took her 30 minutes to reach her destination. The warehouse was a large building that was surrounded by a chain-link fence. The bricks of the building were dark, and several windows were shattered; it was obviously abandoned.

Easy. Just like in Hanamura, right?

'Yeah, easy...'

Alice stood warily, climbing onto the tree to get a better view. Khai-Ja's suit was perfectly camouflaging her in the darkness as she moved from tree to tree, until finally deciding to move closer to the building. The weather was peaceful; the only sounds around were the sounds of crickets chirping with each other. It was a nice change from the loud noises of yelling people and cars driving at high speeds around the city. Jumping from the closest tree to the building, she landed on the ground quietly, focusing on the front door and looking around. It was quiet, too quiet you could say. What could you expect from an abandoned building in the middle of the forest? Carefully, she ran her fingers along the dusty double doors that served as an entrance. Doing her best to peer through the tiny glass window, she searched for any signs of activity. When she found none, she contacted McCree through the earpiece, "Everything seems fine so far," She paused, grabbing the handle of the door, "Should I go in? Front doors look clear, cowboy."

McCree was silent for a moment, speaking silently to someone before turning back to the girl and saying, "You can go, just be careful."

Alice turned off her earpieces and slowly tried opening the rusty doors, but stopped immediately when they started making a high-pitched crackling sound, like a rusty gate swinging shut. Taking a deep breath, she opened the doors wide as quickly as possible, revealing the complete darkness of the hallway beyond. As she walked inside, a bright blue light momentarily blinded her eyes. Afterwards, everything around her was bathed in various shades of blue and red, granting her the ability to see in the dark.

I have activated our scotopic vision, also known as night vision. Though you will not be able to see Omnics as they do not produce any heat. You will be able to detect, see, and feel their electricity signatures within their bodies.

Pursing her lips, Alice looked around, thinking, 'The whole building is dead cold; I don't see anything suspicious going on here.' She paused, then continued, 'Should we just leave?' Her thoughts fell silent as she noticed a faint, warm light radiating from beneath the stone floor she was standing on.

Don't- Khai-Ja said as Alice opened another door before she could stop her. She was in a stairwell that only led downwards. She wasted no time before she began to climb down the stairs. Alice pushed through another door and was immediately blinded by a sudden light that illuminated the hallway from the overhead lights. Her whole body tensed, and her hand flew toward the comms in her ear, ready to contact the team. But stopped as she heard noises coming from the hallway and many red strong signatures appeared in Khai-Ja's vision. One red dot popped out, followed by another, and another, and more, all of them moving.

Alice made a mistake of not contacting McCree earlier; two huge machines came to the room she was in, both covered from foot to head in weapons and strong armor. Luckily, she managed to quickly web herself to the ceiling before the Omnics noticed her presence. Both robots seemed to communicate with each other, continuing their walk and leaving the girl alone once again. Getting back on the ground, Alice cautiously peered through the open door. There were no red dots, indicating there were no enemies present at the moment. However, it appeared that most of the omnics were gathered in one area. Alice hesitated, unsure if she should report their theory about this location being another Null Sector base filled with hundreds or even thousands of terrorist Omnics who employ violent methods to achieve omnic rights to the Captain, McCree. She knew that they were waiting for her response and that it was her duty to report back to him; yet, she found herself hesitant for some reason.

Why?

Was it because of her own stupidity or the fact that something was pulling her entire attention towards the room with the Omnics.

Looking up at the ceiling, she notices a wide ventilation system that could provide easy access to the area she wants to reach. Jumping up to the ceiling, she checks the vent first and then opens it, crawls inside, and closes it behind her.

Alice Smith, what are you doing? This is extremely dangerous; you should report your findings to the McCree and return to your team immediately. My sensors indicate that the enemy is here.

'This whole building is full of enemies. We have to find out as much as we can. Just trust me, okay? I need to see what's going on in here.' The vents weren't comfortable, but they were wide enough for her to be able to move freely inside them. As she crawled inside, Alice could see some Omnics covered in white and purple plating walking by with other Omnics, talking to each other as if it were just another night at work. Strange though it may have been, despite the fact that the machines despised humanity, they were quite similar to them. Was it the way they socialized with each other? Or perhaps that some of them had even developed interests and hobbies?

Her eyes widened as she finally realized the number of Omnics inside the room. She had reached her destination, a massive space filled with machines and other objects. The noise of machinery and Omnics working together to build something was overwhelming for her. Opening the vent, she crawled onto the ground and hid behind something that resembled a metal hand that would pick up a box and then move it elsewhere. Peering behind the hand, her eyes landed on the wooden board with notes and a map attached to it.

'We have to get closer,' She thought, looking around for any safe way or hiding spot to reach the board, but found nothing. Everything was occupied by machines and metal scraps.

If we are to be found, our chances of escape and survival are almost 5%. We have to leave this place before any more harm comes to us.

Alice completely ignored Scarab's warnings, 'Just fire up those sensors and see if you can narrow it down so I can see it.'

Scanning...

...Expanding search reach...

...Scanning...

Her eyes narrowed as Khai-Ja zoomed in on her target, allowing her to see the notes and map. Taking a few photos of it, she stopped, seeing an Omnic walking past the board. The Omnic held some sort of a weird staff with a purple orb floating inside it.

Khai-Ja's senses flared drastically, and Alice found herself backing away from the tall Omnic before it could see her. Her foot accidentally stepped on a plastic can, causing a loud crack to echo throughout the already loud room. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the Omnics turned towards her, their single red eye flickering before flaring a dangerous red. Alice gulped nervously as every single Omnic stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her. The tall Omnic lifted the staff towards her in a threatening manner.

"Get him."

Alice was running for her life as the deafening sound of mechanical footsteps echoed throughout the Null Sector base. She had managed to infiltrate the facility undetected but it was only a matter of time before she was discovered. As she turned a corner, she saw a group of Omnics up ahead, their glowing eyes fixated on her. Without hesitation her arm turned into a cannon and began firing at the relentless machines. The beam of light cut through their metal frames but it seemed as though more just kept appearing.

Without warning, a group of flying Omnics appeared overhead and started shooting plasma blasts in her direction. She dodged and weaved her way through the narrow corridors, narrowly avoiding each blast. The heat from the explosives was intense and left her skin tingling as she ran past.

As she sprinted down the labyrinth of hallways, she could hear the Omnics' metallic footsteps closing in on her. Their mechanical voices droned on in a language she didn't understand, and she knew they wouldn't rest until they caught her.

Alice could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she ran through the base's corridors, her katana at the ready. With grace and precision, Alice slashed at any robot that got too close. Her katana sliced through metal as if it were butter, sparking with every hit. She focused on the path ahead, feeling the heat of the Omnics weaponry as it barely missed her.

As she reached the end of the corridor, Alice spotted the exit and pushed herself to run faster. But as she approached the door, it came crashing down, blocking her exit. Now trapped, Alice turned to face the Omnics, her katana flashing in the dim lighting. She gracefully swung her katana at the nearest robot, cleaving its head clean off. With the Omnics closing in, Alice used all the skills she had learned to dodge their attacks and strike when the opportunity presented itself. The interesting thing was that Alice herself had no idea where she had learned how to fight like this, though she wasn't complaining right now as the skills her body somehow knew were saving her life.

Despite being outnumbered, Alice fought with all her might, slicing and dicing her way through the Omnics. Soon, a pile of dead robots lay behind her, allowing her to make a run for the exit. With the end in sight, Alice sprinted towards the door, threw it open and burst out of the base, taking a deep breath of fresh air. However, her peace didn't last for very long as her lungs were knocked out of her as something strong slammed her onto the ground hard. Her working hand tried to reach her earpiece to call for help, but it was stopped by a metal leg stepping on it. The gun that was attached to the Nulltrooper moved closer to her head before poking her cheek curiously. She raised her head slightly, surprised by the action, but soon realized that her body wasn't human at all. If the robot had scanned her before, it wouldn't have found anything human inside of her at all. So it's probably thinking that she is an Omnic or something alien.

"What is this. What are you?" The beeping sound of the Omnic was clear, and Alice only looked at the machine even more questioningly. She grabbed the the hilt of her katana tight. The Nulltrooper Omnic put it's hand out and bumped Alice on the head.

"The same?" It muttered to itself, still letting out a string of confused beeps, "Not the same?" It shoved Alice's shoulder.

"Hey, knock that off," Alice rubbed the spot on her arm where the Omnic had bruised it. She tried to move away from the robot, but her leg was still stuck under its metal foot.

The Omnic took two quick steps back, red eyes blinking, weapon whirring. "A strange language," It said to itself, "Strange little animal."

Just as she was finally able to back away from the Omnic, it fell to the ground lifelessly, a bullet hole in its head. Alice turned to look at the person who had just killed the Omnic in front of her; her eyes met with Ana Amari crouched behind the tree, hidden within its leaves.

"McCree!" She yelled through her comms with panic edging her voice, "This place is crawling with Null Sector troopers." Alice noticed a movement inside the windows of the building; several bright flashes of light caught her attention. With a gasp she realized that it was gunfire.

"McCree! What's going on in there?!"

"Alice, head back to the ship! They're everywhere and we're outnumbered!"

Alice almost obeyed; she straightened herself and was about to run, but stopped. She couldn't just leave her team, not when they were obviously fighting for their lives inside the building. She unsheathed her katana and gripped it tightly, ready to enter the building once more and help with whatever they were fighting against just as McCree and his team burst through the front doors. Several purple and white robots followed after them, their cannons raised and firing nonstop at them. Just before the closest robot could harm McCree any further, its head was sliced off instantly and sent flying into the wall behind it, leaving Alice standing triumphantly on top of its body with her katana lifted in the air defensively.

"Alice!" McCree's panicked voice reached her ears and she turned to look at him, "What are you still doin' here?! I told ya to get back to the ship, dammit!"

"I'm not leaving you, McCree." She responded calmly, holding her breath as her left hand transformed into a cannon and aimed at another Trooper. The Trooper's head exploded, its metal parts flying everywhere as it collapsed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Genji and his team rushing out from behind the building, with about a dozen Nulltroopers in pursuit, bullets flying from their blasters.

"Look out, ninja, you got company!" She spoke through the earpiece as she shot one of the Omnics following them. Genji slowed down, twisting around to face the army of the robots behind them. Immediately, he unsheathed his katana, dashing into the midst of them as though he had no fear at all.

"So much for a damn stealth mission!" McCree shouted as Alice tore pieces from the Omnic's back while at the same time dispatching the others by jumping from one to another and piercing her katana through each skull. She completely stopped listening to McCree's yelling and only focused on destroying every single Omnic; adrenaline was the only thing keeping her breathing. She focused her attention on the other group once more. Her eyes found Genji almost immediately, and she rolled them when she saw the overly confident cyborg dash into a group of Nulltroopers. He sliced one nearly in half, ignoring the wounds inflicted on his organic parts by constant combat. One of the robots raised its cannon, charging up the weapon as the cyborg remained busy with the other Omnics. Quickly, Alice dashed towards the robot before it could fire its weapon. She sliced through its arm, which held the cannon, clean off, and then blasted its head with her plasma cannon, causing it to explode. Genji incapacitated his Nulltrooper just as she fired and he turned around just in time to see the other one fall to the ground inches away from him.

"I got your back, Genji." She said to him in a crouched Spider-Man pose, smiling slightly behind her mask. She expected the cyborg to be grateful, though he didn't respond. As she looked up at him, she noticed that his shoulders were tense and his eyes met hers in a glare as he turned away. His eyes lingered on the katana she held before he left the girl without saying a word. Alice stared at the ungrateful cyborg as he casually walked away, as if he hadn't just nearly been shot. She rolled her eyes at his ungratefulness, she knew that he was probably annoyed that she had to interfere with his fight, though she didn't care. Having such a strong and advanced body didn't mean that he was invincible; Genji had to accept that he couldn't do everything on his own. If she hadn't stopped that Nulltrooper in time, they would have been returning to base with an injured cyborg.

Speaking of injuries, Alice felt something sticky dripping from her shoulder and for the first time she noticed a not so long thin wound that looked like something sharp had sliced through Khai-Ja's armor and her skin, but not deep enough to reach her muscles or bones. Alice stood, watching as the other agents cleared out the rest of the Omnics. Her head rang from the constant sounds of guns firing, and she suddenly longed to be back in the safety of the aircraft. She moved slowly towards the rest of the team as the torn spot on her shoulder fixed itself; she felt something hot absorbing into her wound and then her skin attaching itself together, closing the wound.

"Good job, girlie." McCree said to her as he approached her. He slung an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side as he began to lead the team away from the omnium. Alice smiled, though she couldn't care less about getting praised; something else was now occupying her mind. Who was that weird tall Omnic with a staff, and why hadn't he joined the fight?

.

.

.

The Blackwatch team returned to the Swizz base just as the Sun dipped over the horizon. Alice's body ached and her eyes drooped tiredly as she hoped off the ship. She stood leaning against the wall of the hangar as she watched McCree and Genji give the Commanders the mission report. She hoped that they would finish soon so that the team could be dismissed and she could head for her bed. Her wish seemed to come true almost immediately as she saw both McCree and Genji part ways with the Commanders. McCree made his way over to the team, congratulating them and dismissing them to their rooms. Alice stretched her arms above her as she pushed herself away from the wall. She went to follow the rest of the agents to the dormitories but was stopped by the sound of Morrison calling her name. She quietly groaned to herself before turning to watch both him and Reyes approaching her.

"How're you feelin' after your first mission, agent?"

'Agent?' Alice repeated the words in her head few times. 'So, It's official now...'

"I'm alive, so I'm happy." Alice responded, "I saved someone's life," She glanced towards Genji just as he disappeared out of the hangar, "And prevented a lot of unnecessary injuries. And-" She paused for a moment, looking through her left pocket and taking out a small pendrive, holding it towards Morrison, "I found some pretty good stuff inside there."

As both commanders examined the small pendrive, Alice continued, though she couldn't hide her tiredness anymore. "I downloaded everything that I have found inside their base before everything turned upside down."

"So we've been told." Morrison said to her with a nod of approval, "You've became a valuable asset to the team, Alice. I know Reyes is proud to have you."

Alice remained silent. Being complimented by the Commander himself was something she didn't expect at all; it made her feel strange. Was she supposed to say thank you or simply ignore him? During her years with her parents, the only times she was complimented for her hard work were by teachers. By her adoptive parents, never - only reprimanded for whatever little things she did wrong. The positive attitude was definitely a change of pace, and for the first time since she arrived at Overwatch, Alice felt as though she truly belonged with them.