"Thank you for coming with me to the party." Amélie said to John from the co-pilot's seat in the transport. "And for going shoping for clothes to wear." she said as she looked at the faux fur-trimmed dress she wore. "The Overwatch outfits are dull and it feels odd to wear them after everything that's happened..."
"It's fine, Ams." he replied from his seat. "I wasn't about to let you go alone, and I needed something to wear other than my armor too." he said with a smirk as he gestured to the new red and black plaid long sleeved shirt and black denim jeans. "I'm not leaving my revolver behind though. Might have to use it on the wind-up toy..."
"Do you really think it will come to that?" she asked.
"I hope not, but I'd always rather be prepared if something does happen. It would be nice to see some of the old crew, or at least what's left of them..." he said sadly."
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"These are the coordinates the monkey sent me... and the... mansion." John remarked dryly. "Never ones to avoid wasting money, Overwatch was..."
"It's still smaller than my family's estate if that helps." Amélie said smirking at her friend.
"No defenses in place at all... It's like they're begging to be raided by Talon..." he said, clearly irritated.
"Do you think Talon knows about this place?"
"I wouldn't be surprised. If this place's funding was on record it's probably on their radar.." he explained. "I'm gonna set the shuttle to patrol the area in stealth mode so we at least have some warning if Talon does mount an attack."
"That's a good idea." Amélie said as he started bringing the shuttle down towards the landing pad.
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"Winston the place is lovely, and it's wonderful to see old friends, but I'm still not rejoining Overwatch." Vivienne said to the gorilla as they talked in the kitchen.
"But working together..." was all he got out before she cut him off
"Was part of how we got disbanded in the first place. I am far happier working to protect my home as best as I can with the friends I made there." she calmly explained. "I'm not coming back to something I don't fully believe changed."
"Very well, Vivienne, but I hope you'll reconsider." he said accepting her decision, as she nodded and left for another room.
"She may yet come around, my friend." Reinhardt reassured the gorilla in a festive sweater. "You just have to give her time to see what we're doing."
"I know. Hopefully others will see too and continue trying to join our ranks." he said as he looked out the window. "Looks like another guest has arrived."
"That looks like one of the old Overwatch shuttles... but someone has done a lot of work to it..." Reinhardt rumbled as the shuttle's ramp lowered towards the building and a familiar figure walked down with a riffle slung over his shoulder and an infamous woman trailing behind. "Is that...?"
"I invited them." Winston reassured the old warrior. "Both of them have been though a lot recently like most who have been invited. I don't want to have any fighting at this dinner."
"I will control myself, but you do remember what she has done?"
"We don't know all the facts." the gorilla explained. "He vouches for her and has been with her for months. I trust his judgment."
"Very well, but we may have to keep Lena away from them..." he said as the doorbell rang.
...
John tapped the controls for the shuttle on his wrist mounted computer and sent it off to patrol in stealth mode while Amélie rang the doorbell. "Are you sure about this?" he asked as the vessel took off and disappeared into the night sky.
"No," she admitted. "But the change of scenery will do me good. And hopefully some forgiveness can be found from those I wronged." she explained again as the door opened to reveal a Bastion unit with a bird sitting on it's chest and a santa hat on it's head.
Faster than even John realised it his pistol was drawn and aimed at the bot who quickly ducked and converted to it's assault configuration, dropping the hat to the floor while backing away.
"The fuck is one of those things doing here?" he quietly said as he himself sidestepped away from the door.
"It had a santa hat on it's... does that count as a head?" She said as she picked the hat up off the floor.
"I don't know. All I know is those things killed millions of innocent people."
"Perhaps this one is different?" she said as she walked inwards and returned the hat to the bot, who returned to it's recon configuration and put the hat back on it's head. "I'm sorry about him. He's a bit touchy about omnics."
The bot looked past her out the door, nodded, let out a couple of beeps, then walked back down the hallway.
"I'm perfectly fine around the regular models." he explained as he came back around to enter the house, slowly holstering his revolver. "It's the combat models that did the heavy lifting during that war that I'm touchy on. And I'm pretty damn sure Torbjorn was the lead designer on that particular fuck-up..." he grumbled as he continued into the home, taking the first door he came upon which opened into the kitchen, revealing Winston and Reinhardt.
"So who do I have to shoot for bringing a bastion unit here, and why is it probably Torbjorn?" he asked dryly as Amélie walked in behind him.
"Ah, yes. That was undoubtedly a mistake on our part to let it open the door..." Winston acknowledged as Reinhardt walked up to his old friend and pulled him into a hug.
"It is good to see you alive my friend!" the crusader said as he nearly crushed the younger man in his grip.
"Air! Please!" John got out before the old man released him. "Jesus, your strength hasn't gone away!" he exclaimed as he caught his breath.
"And you haven't hardly aged a day!" the old man laughed.
"Kinda hard to age when you're dead." John explained as he stood back up and tucked his shirt back in.
"Hmm. And as for you," the old man said as he turned to Amélie who took a nervous step back. "So long as you don't cause problems, I won't have to step in."
"Understood sir." she said to the looming figure.
"I remember you from before. Head full of clouds and a song in your heart. If what Longshot told us is true, I pity what happened to you, but I won't look away from any new poor choices. Understood?"
"Yes sir." she said quietly, sidestepping behind John.
"Alright, calm down Wilhelm. You've made your point." Winston said, getting a huff from the old man who proceeded to walk out of the room. "I'm sorry about him, miss Amélie. He was out of line."
"It's fine..." she mumbled as she wrapped an arm around John's.
"Try to enjoy yourselves tonight. The appetizers are set up in the dining room through those doors and the main course will be ready in about an hour and a half."
"How about the living room and the bathroom?" John asked.
"The living room is on the other side of the hall and the bathrooms are at the end of that hallway and another two on either end of the hallway upstairs."
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