Chapter 2: Rat Utopia

The next morning Val stood in the kitchen cooking breakfast and Widow sat and waited for him to finish cooking. As he finished his cooking, he heard a familiar pair of heavy boots make their way down the hallway. Val looked up and saw the dark hooded figure he suspected, slowing down to say hello to Widowmaker.

"Reaper, you kiss your girlfriend goodbye this morning?" Val said, as he picked up two plates of toast with eggs.

"What?" Reaper growled, and paused at the kitchen island.

"You know the new recruits? The youngest one was making eyes at you at lunch yesterday. I thought you'd at least say bye to your new lover." Val said smiling, setting down the plates and taking a seat next to Widow.

"You're joking." Reaper turned his head to the two in the kitchen before crossing his arms.

"About you saying bye? Yes. About her staring at you? No." Val picked up a piece of toast and bit into it.

"The girl seemed quite guilty upon questioning. Though, V made some unseemly comments about you under the mask, so I don't know how trustworthy his storytelling is." Widow said, ignoring the plate in front of her.

"I only said that to get her to buzz off. If I didn't like you I would've told her you had the clap." Val gently tapped on the counter in front of Widow. "You need to eat at least one

of those or you're gonna get an earful from doc."

"Are you 12? You don't even know what I look like under the mask." Reaper tilted his head at the two of them. Widow looked at the other two expressionless, then looked down at her plate to start eating.

"I know you're sexy under there though, let me see." Val raised his eyebrows, gesturing for the tall man to come closer to him.

"Watch it." Reaper sneered.

"Careful. He might eat you." Widow said, giving Val the side eye and making him giggle. Reaper grunted and gave a dismissive wave before walking out the door. The two of them finished their breakfast and parted with each other at the door.

Val makes his way down the concrete of the outside of the base, the cool ocean air refreshing against his face. The air changed humidity as he entered the main building to go see Roz. Leaning on the counter he spoke casually.

"Hi, Roz. Where am I at today?" Val watched the older woman click her keyboard before looking up at him over her pointed glasses.

"You have a busy schedule today young man. Air ship engineers are short staffed today. But first Mr. DoomFist asked for a meeting with you right now, and you need to go get your lab work done with Moira."

"A meeting? I guess it's finally over. Tell my wife I love her Roz."

"Uh huh, the wife you don't have? So dramatic."

Val made his way to the meeting room where Doomfist stood waiting for him. The egregiously long table had only four tiny chairs around it. Val planted himself in a seat along the side and leaned back in the chair.

"I see you've finally decided to join me. Fried mozzarella?"

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Suit yourself. I have a new assignment for you."

"You don't usually call me to a meeting just for an assignment."

"You are aware I don't appreciate an attitude in my personnel? Unfortunately, one of our pilots was not. I need you to take his place until we find his replacement."

"What? You said I wouldn't be working on the field anymore." Val sat up suddenly, a lot less relaxed at this news.

"Piloting is not field work, and you would be wise to agree with me."

"This isn't fair. This isn't what we agreed on."

"I believe what we agreed on when I first brought you here," Doomfist stood next to Val and leaned himself over Val's shoulder, "Is that you would make yourself useful. So you will do just that and be in the cockpit tomorrow at 600 hours, understand?"

Val grinded his teeth together and stood up abruptly.

"This is a load of barnacles. I'm going to get my labs done."

"Of course. We need to ensure you're in excellent condition for your mission tomorrow."

"Whatever." Val stormed out of the room, passing Reaper on his way out and giving him a dirty look before making his way out of the building and over to the med bay.

Getting his lab work done was usually simple enough, he got his blood drawn by a nursing assistant and Dr. O'Deorain reviewed it a week later. But today he got to review last week's labs and get more blood drawn, how lovely. A strange turn of events, the doctor was already waiting for him in the med bay instead of the usual nursing assistant.

"Hi." Val said as he sat in the tall chair with a metal tray already prepped and ready next to it for him. The doctor was reading a clipboard before she set it down and started prepping to draw Val's blood herself.

Dr. O'Deorain slid on a pair of gloves speaking flatly. "Hello."

"Where's the nursing assistant?" Val asked, watching as she placed a blue tourniquet around his upper arm.

"Well, the phlebotomist last week lost Widowmaker's lab work, so he's been fired. 7 vials, into thin air." The rubbing alcohol was cold on Val's arm as she rubbed the pad on his inner elbow.

"I don't understand how he managed to achieve that, but I was furious. So, furthermore, I will also be doing all of my important lab work myself." She continued, then rubbed his inner elbow looking for his vein, and proceeded to take the needle out of its protective casing. Val turned his head to avoid looking at the needle going into his skin.

"You're still quite skittish about needles for someone who gets this done so often." The doctor said as she smoothly connected the vials to the needle in Val's arm. He swallowed as he started to feel warm on his forehead. He always told himself he didn't mind, and he was great with needles, and then Moira told him you weren't supposed to look away and feel nauseated when you got metal put in your arm.

"Sorry. You would think it would get easier doing it so often." He said, tensing the arm he wasn't getting blood drawn from.

"Don't apologize now, we are already almost done." The doctor connected one last vial, and once it was filled she disconnected the vial and then placed a cotton ball on top of the needle Val's arm before pulling it out. "Two fingers."

Val pressed the cotton down with two fingers, and the doctor disposed of the biohazard equipment before wrapping his arm with a piece of self adhesive gauze.

The doctor turned to pick up her clipboard again and started walking towards a doorway connected to the med bay. "Come to my lab please." She said, gesturing for the younger man to follow. Val stood up and trailed behind the doctor, as they entered her talon lab where she had lots of papers and gadgets and gizmos that Val would love to play with and touch. "Sorry for the mess. Don't touch anything."

"Looks like you need some help cleaning. I could always come help you here in the lab too doc, I learn fast." Val said, immediately gathering a pile of papers on one of the tables into a neat stack, making space for him to lean on.

"I appreciate it but I'm afraid all of this would go right above your head or you would lose something. If you truly want to help, tell Doomfist to hire more than one doctor for all of Talon." The doctor pressed a button on the table, bringing up the hologram screen behind Val, before flipping through her clipboard. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Val said, staring towards the wall.

"You seem in a sour mood today. What's wrong?" Moira put down her clipboard and scrolled through the long line of repeating letters on the screen.

"It's nothing. Doomfist told me he wants me to go pilot for a mission. I don't want to. You know, the usual dumb stuff."

"Ah, I see. That is why you are here. He has all of us doing tasks that aren't to our liking. It's only temporary, you'll live." Moira looked over at Val.

"I know." Val looked down at the floor. Then the doctor furrowed her brow, reaching over to turn Val's face towards her. She quickly took out a pen from her pocket and clicked it, shining a small light in his eyes.

"Have you been sleeping?" She said, pocketing the light again.

"About as much as usual." Val shrugged.

"You can't fall asleep or can't stay asleep?"

"Both."

"I'll give you something to help you sleep. You'll need it for tonight." She scribbled on an old style prescription pad and went to hand it to Val. Right before he was about to take it from her hand, she pulled it away quickly. "I'm not signing this one, I'm sending it digitally, so don't think you can get it twice by using the paper like last time."

"Yes, ma'am." Val smiled sheepishly, taking the paper.

"You've lost a lot of weight as well, make sure to have dinner besides a cigarette. You'll need the energy for tomorrow. Your labs were all in line, you're free to go." Moira said, scrolling and typing at her screen. Val stuck his tongue out at her before getting up off the table to walk away.

Val stopped in his tracks and turned around. "How do you know I've lost a lot of weight? You don't weigh me at my appointments."

"Of course I weigh you at your appointments, there's a scale built into the floor. You just haven't lost this much weight before."

"So you think I'm skinny is what you're saying." Val said, leaning with one hand on the table. Moira glared at him before throwing a lollipop at his forehead.

Taking his signal to leave, Val headed out of the lab to the aircraft hangar where he was needed next.

In the hangar, a woman in overalls was working on one of the airships in the middle of the hangar.

"How's it going? I'm here now to help with the airship, just tell me where you want me."

"I dunno man I'm about to give up. This thing won't start. I've checked everything three times and all the engine parts are fine, it's just throwing a tantrum."

"This is the old airship right?"

"Yeah."

"Did you check the throttle?"

"The throttle works fine."

"It's probably a software issue with the throttle. It does it to me all the time where it won't start if the throttle isn't all the way down, but you have to lift the throttle up and back down while it's off for it to register."

"Seriously? Where did you go to school that they taught you that and not me? That's so stupid, I hate these old models."

"I know, I didn't go to school, though. I just figured it out by accident once."

"I've been having that problem for ages, and you fix it by accident? Might as well put you in charge of the whole hangar?"

"Look climb in the cockpit with me, I'll show you what I'm talking about."

While the two chatted about the ship, there happened to be a hacker and a mercenary passing nearby. Happening to overhear the conversation, while neither of them would mention it now, almost in sync they slowed a little. Once Val and the mechanic started to climb into the ship, the other two picked up their pace, again. Though unspoken, Sombra and Reaper left the hangar and went about their day taking a mental note of Val's presence in the area.

It wasn't unusual for Val to be in random areas of the base. He paid the other two no mind, he was only going to be piloting for a bit. It wasn't something to concern them with yet, he was worried about finishing his day today.

Just get through the day. Just finish one mission. What's the worst that could happen?

Val sat in the cockpit of the ship, drinking an energy drink. If this was a paid promotion it would be Monster energy product placement like in death stranding, but we ain't advertise for free in this house. Of course Val was not super happy to be up early in the morning, but the medication Moira had given him had helped him to fall asleep. It wasn't anything super strong so he wouldn't sleep through his alarms, but that also meant he woke up a few times through the night. It also meant he was this first one up, and he sat ready and waiting in the airship watching a game on his phone.

As time went on, the noise outside of the open airship door steadily grew. He could hear Sombra's familiar voice just outside of the airship.

"I don't think I've ever flown with Val piloting before." He could hear Sombra faintly say.

"I have. He did barrel rolls so I would throw up." Reaper's gruff voice grew in volume as the two drew closer. Val snorted. It wasn't true, but it was something he would do.

Sombra's groan almost echoed before she spoke. "I hope they restocked the barf bags. Wait, I forgot something, tell V I'll be right back!" Loud boots thudded against the metal of the aircraft floor. Man those were loud. Val turned in his seat to check it was who he thought it was. Through the propped open cockpit door, in the back he saw Reaper walking through the airship.

"Hey! Are you co-piloting today or is Sombra?" Val spoke and chugged what was left of his Monster absentmindedly, distracted by the game on his phone. He heard Reaper enter the cockpit and start speaking, yet failed to understand him over his phone. Val reached over, turned down his phone, looked up at Reaper, and then blinked before politely smiling and saying "Sorry, what?"

"We haven't decided. She thinks I should, between me and her." Reaper spoke gruffly with his arms crossed.

"It's 'cause she thinks I'm a bad pilot huh?" Val said, smiling into his drink. Reaper said nothing, turned his head ever so slightly away from Val's face. Val laughed. "It's ok, I don't care. If you're the better pilot I think I would be more comfortable with you up here, but it's up to you guys."

Val turned his chair back to his phone and turned the volume back up, the voice of the commentators becoming intelligible again. Leaning back, he swiveled the chair side to side, becoming engrossed in the game again. Until Reaper's voice uncharacteristically broke him out of his trance.

"What are you watching?" Reaper asked, hovering over Val's shoulder peeking at Val's phone.

"Lakers game. You watch basketball?" Val said, pleasantly surprised at the question.

"Yeah. You going for the Lakers?" Reaper asked, surprisingly conversational, though he kept his arms crossed.

"Oh hell no. I'm going for Miami right now 'cause my team is already out for the season." Val sneered at the thought, still not over his team losing.

"Who's your team?"

"Celtics."

Reaper shook his head. "I should've known you were a dirty Celtics fan." Val gasped and darted his head at Reaper.

"You're a Lakers fan? I knew you couldn't be trusted, I've never met a Laker I could trust." Val said, squinting his eyes at the other before turning back to his phone.

"I've never met a Celtic who's won." Val dropped his jaw at the other before rolling his eyes again and brushing it off.

"Whatever you guys aren't even winning right now. Next season though, you guys are gonna have it."

Widow's heels clicked right behind Reaper and Val, catching the two of them slightly off guard.

"What are you two arguing about? We haven't even taken off." Widow asked with a hand on her hip. Reaper took a step back, and Widow took his place.

"Basketball." Val said, leaning down and grabbing a black ice chest on the floor next to him. Reaper retreated to the back of the airship while the other two interacted.

Widow rolled her eyes. "Of course." Val dug through the cooler and pulled out a foil wrapped burrito, handing it to Widow. She took it with a nod as Sombra padded onto the ship and quickly into the cockpit.

"Don't eat that yet, I might've mixed them up." Val turned to tell Widow before she could walk away.

"Hey," Sombra said, "Sorry I took a second, I forgot I owed you this," She leaned over the back of Val's chair and held another can of monster in front of his head.

"Oh, thank you," Val squealed, giving her a side hug. Widow rolled her eyes at the other two. Val reached into the cooler, pulling out two more burritos, and inspecting the foil on them. "Ok this one should be yours and this one is mine, and the last one is Reaper's."

"Thank you compa." Sombra said sweetly. Val looked up, saw Reaper passing by in the back of the airship, and shouted at him.

"You! Come here, I got you something!" Val waved for the other man to come towards him. Reaper treaded back into the cockpit and stood between the girls with his arms crossed. The younger man pulled out the last burrito and casually held it out up to the other. "Here, this one should be yours."

"No, thanks." Reaper replied, his body language stiff. Val looked up at him, trying to read his emotions behind the mask.

"Just take it. I already made them, don't want them to go to waste." Val insisted. Which was true, and he wanted things to go smoothly. The least the guy could do was not waste the damn food.

"I'm not hungry." Reaper replied. Val frowned, starting to get irritated, resting his arms on his legs.

"Did you eat before you came?"

"No. I don't need to." Of course not. Val rolled his eyes and put the burrito back in the cooler.

"Come mierda pues. I don't wanna hear you bitching later that you're hungry. Who's my co-pilot?" Val spoke impatiently, looking at Sombra and Reaper, who then looked at each other. Reaper held out his fist over his flat palm, then Sombra held out her non occupied hand in a fist. Val smirked at the fact they were really playing rock-paper scissors over it, as he pulled open the wrapper of his food to check he got the right one.

"1-2-3, shoot!" They said at the same time, Reaper losing. He groaned before plopping himself in the co-pilot seat.

"There's my favorite co-pilot." Val said, biting into his egg and spinach burrito.

"Quiet. I control the music, now give me the AUX." Reaper said firmly, holding out his phone to connect to the Future Bluetooth. Val took it and set it on the console, which loaded for a second before it connected and created a small hologram display of Reaper's music on his phone.

"Play La Vaca." Sombra said, leaning over Reaper's shoulder with her burrito.

"No. You ask every time." Reaper said, scrolling through his music.

"Play-"

"No! I drive, I pick the music!" Reaper started scrolling through his music faster. Sombra ate as she curiously looked through his playlist like she always did, incidentally holding her food almost right next to Reaper's face. Val also watched him scroll through the music, somewhat absentmindedly, going back and forth over the same few songs. "Sombra." Reaper finally said.

"What's up?"

Reaper turned his head towards her, expression unreadable. "What's in that?"

"My burrito? It's egg con chorizo." Sombra said casually. Reaper turned his head back to the console.

"Hmm." He replied and continued to scroll through his music. Oh.

Val looked at Sombra and the two raised their eyebrows knowingly. Val went back into his cooler, and pulled out the last burrito. Reaching over, he gently placed it in front of the other before leaning back in his chair.

Reaper looked down at the foil, picked it up, then looked over at Val wordlessly before sighing.

Val watched intently as the other aggressively tore off half the wrapper, throwing it on the console of course. He then lifted his mask just enough to uncover his mouth.

Val blinked at him, as this man had already horked down the whole burrito in about three bites and had his mask down, rolling the remaining foil into a ball between his hands.

"I thought you weren't hungry? Was it good?" Val asked, leaning on his hand.

"It's edible." Reaper said, though sounding much less intimidating with his mouth still full of food. Val smirked to himself as he ate, swiveling his chair back and forth with his foot, feeling satisfied with himself, and got ready to take off. The girls were supposed to go sit in the back and buckle up while they did all the pre-flight checks. Sombra almost made it out of the cockpit before turning back and tapping Val on the shoulder.

"Hey, what are we supposed to call you on comms?" Sombra asked,

"Just V, like usual." Val said not paying much attention to her. Sombra tapped him on the shoulder trying to get his attention.

"Yeah but what's your callsign? You have to pick one or they give you one, no?"

"Yeah but I'm just piloting, we don't need it. And also, it's stupid so I'm not telling you." Val said, finally turning to look at her so he can stick his tongue out at her.

"Oh, now I have to find out, you know I don't like secrets."

"If you ever catch me back on the field I will tell you my code name ok? Now go sit down." Val said, waving her off. Sombra squinted at him before walking to the back to go sit down.

Finally, just the two of them, and Val without such a huge distraction, was much more help to Reaper than he was before. Their take off went smoothly, Val actually remembering most of what he was supposed to do, but it was a comfort to have someone else there for him just in case. As they cruised through the air he felt some ease that the mission should go just as smoothly.