Chapter 3: The Worst That Can Happen

The obnoxiously long table stretched across the briefing room, separating Doomfist from the four talon agents sitting together. Not that he was sitting, egomaniac never sat down, always had to have some sort of power play going on.

Reaper of course sat at the end of the table, with Widow on one side, and Sombra on the other. Val had been sitting between Reaper and Sombra, but his chair was pushed far back and he was now busy spinning himself around staring at the ceiling, disengaged from the meeting. Doomfist stood with his backs to them. He had been pacing for a couple minutes before deciding to speak to them.

"So, which of you would like to explain what caused this mission's catastrophic failure?" Doomfist asked. All of them found a different wall to find very interesting at this moment. "Very well, I will choose. Sombra, what happened?"

Sombra looked up at Doomfist, then looked over at Widow and Reaper, who gave her blank stares. She looked over at Val, who shrugged at her.

"Well, take off went fine at first, but then Widow insisted on being our navigator. She put in the wrong directions because she's old and doesn't know how to use the GPS and we got lost-"

"I know how to use a GPS! I only put in the wrong directions because Reaper wouldn't stop yelling at me!"

"You want yelling? I can show you yelling. We were in the air for all of 5 minutes and the both of you started fighting! You're doing it now! I can't take you two anywhere."

"We were only fighting because she was too busy being stubborn about the directions!"

"Drop it."

"We are not children, do not speak to us like so."

"Then quit acting like toddlers."

"Enough!" Doomfist echoed, silencing the room. The three looked at each other quietly, all of them having their arms crossed over their chests. Doomfist stepped closer to the agents, considering what they were saying.

"Val." Doomfist said, his chair's movement halting. Maybe he should've been paying more attention during the meeting. "What happened?" Doomfist asked, frustrated and rubbing his forehead.

Val pulled his chair closer to the table and thought for a moment before speaking.

"Well, basically, Sombra sometimes doesn't know when to not make comments. So Widow got mad and that all started with the GPS. Then when Widow gets mad she's really stubborn and doesn't want to cooperate with anyone, especially Sombra. And then Reaper was yelling at Widow and Sombra for not cooperating because he thinks he's the leader of the group, and then they yell back and it keeps repeating. So then everything just escalated very quickly and even when things started going wrong they wouldn't stop fighting." Val said, staring at his nails as he spoke. They were all in trouble at this point, and he wasn't going to take the fall for the other three's stupidity.

"I see. Am I to assume you didn't contribute to the arguing?" Doomfist paced back and forth behind the Talon agents, asserting his presence as he interrogated them.

Val scoffed. "No, I was in the plane where I was supposed to be." He glanced up for a second to see Widow and Reaper give each other a look before looking away. Not that what he was saying was untrue, but clearly they took issue with him not taking any of the fall for them.

"And while you were on the plane?" Doomfist shortened his path, just pacing in the space behind Sombra and Val.

"I didn't do anything on the plane either, I minded my business." Val turned to look at Doomfist, upset at being accused yet again of contributing to the chaos from early.

"So you spent the entire mission making yourself of no use, even when your allies were in need?" Doomfist stood directly behind Val now, Val feeling everyone's eyes drilling holes into him. Val didn't respond, and Doomfist spoke again. Val sat in his chair and rested his head on one hand, starting to feel the blood drain from his face. "The rest of you are excused, I need to have a private discussion with our pilot."

Ah, shit.

The other three got up in a hurry and evacuated the room. Val sat at the table, staring forward, clenching his jaw and biting on his inner cheeks. His leg shook up and down as he leaned on his arm and waited for Doomfist to go on with his stupid lecture.

"Can you repeat why I put you on this particular assignment?" Doomfist spoke after a few moments of silence.

"You said you needed a pilot." Val replied.

"I believe my verbiage after that was also 'you would make yourself useful'. Yet here we are." Doomfist then turned to look at Val, who instead of looking at the table stared blankly right at back. "You were allotted the privilege of being removed from field work based on your drive and work ethic here at the base, but your actions on today's mission speak volumes about your utility as an agent now." Doomfist leaned on the table with both hands, staring straight into Val's eyes as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, but it's not my fault we failed the mission. I didn't even do anything-" Val started to raise his voice as he spoke.

"Precisely." Doomfist interrupted Val's defense. "You have grown complacent in your position. You were brought here because I saw an immense potential in you that was thriving amidst chaos. But here you sit, insisting that nothing is an excuse. Unless, you truly are much less than you appeared, then I can throw you back to that dog cage you seemed so comfortable in. So, I need you to decide, Villalba, do I have a complacent young woman with me now, or an aspiring young man?" Doomfist pointed at Val as he spoke to highlight his point.

Val bit the inside of his cheeks and broke eye contact. "Don't start with that."

"I already know the answer, it seems you still don't. After your piloting assignment is over I'm putting you back on the field." Doomfist raised himself up off the table, making his way behind Val in anticipation.

"What?!" Val launched himself out of his seat. "That's not fair! You said I wouldn't have to do field work anymore!"

"Sit down." Doomfist ordered, placing a hand on Val's shoulder and forcing him back down into his chair. "You are to be put where you are needed, when you are needed, as it always has been, are we clear? Or must I make a recording of myself for your memory loss?"

Val stared down at the table frowning, avoiding eye contact as Doomfist leaned over his shoulder. "Are we clear?"

Val looked up and glared at the Talon head looming over him. "This is bullshit. No one else can do everything I can and you know it." He said, in a quiet voice, crossing his arms when the Talon head refused to break his gaze.

"What good is a jack of all trades if he refuses to do even one? You will go on the field after your piloting assignment, end of discussion." Val shook his leg impatiently, staring down at the table again. "Do not test my patience again."

"I get it. Can I go now?"

"You're dismissed." Doomfist took a step back, and Val quickly stood up and stormed out of the room.

As soon as he exits the door, coincidentally there is a purple digital trail flying through the air, a black cloud of smoke trailing across the floor, and a blue spider assassin just chilling hanging from the ceiling. All in their most casual manner of course.

Val made his way about 10 feet down the hallway before turning around to yell at his eavesdropping coworkers.

"All we had to do was pick up pizzas! Just pick up pizzas and you guys crash the airship! And I get in trouble! Nice going assholes!" Val yelled down the hallway, maybe only half joking, before turning back around to leave the building.

The journey back to the house to change his clothes was brisk as he stomped quickly across the base in his anger. Val hadn't even realized he had already changed and grabbed his gym bag before he was already making his way across the concrete, his mind replaying the conversation that just took place.

It surprisingly wasn't very busy in the gym today, which Val was happy to find as he wasn't looking forward to seeing other people right now anyways. Letting autopilot take over, he put up his gym bag and took his old school MP3 player, wired headphones and all, and made his way to the weights. He hooked his headphones on his ears in a hurry while he walked, scrolling through his music. He picked his workout playlist, and of course, Work Bitch by Britney Spears comes up first to set his mood.

Standing in front of the weight stand, there of course was a traditional set of weights. But Val didn't use the traditional weights, those weren't heavy enough for him normally, and especially not now. He looked at the front one of the small white dumbbells. Although it was shaped like a regular 5 pound dumbbell, it had a small screen along the front that let the weight of the dumbbell be custom set through gravitational pull. Val cranked up the weight on it until he felt satisfied, then set the other before picking one of them up, as they were deactivated on the weight stand until it was picked up.

Val's arms quickly started to burn as he was breezing through his workout. The aching of his arms helped distract from how mad he was at the moment with his boss. Speaking of distractions, his little hacker friend appeared in front of him, prompting him to pull one of his earbuds out of his ear.

"What do you want?" Val asked, trying to breath through his workout.

"I wanted to see my favorite pilot, you weren't in your room. Are you okay?" Sombra asked, sitting herself down on the floor in front of him.

"Yep, doing great." Val said, switching arms.

"Those weights are set really heavy, you seem like you're mad."

"I toss around cars for fun, don't read into it. Besides, you were eavesdropping anyway, why are you asking me if I'm mad? Shouldn't you know?" Val sighed, deciding to set down his weights on the floor. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he took a few breaths, setting his hands on his hips.

"Would you believe me if I said we weren't eavesdropping?"

"No."

Sombra rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her hand.

"We could hear you getting yelled at but I couldn't understand what you were saying and he didn't even bother talking to the rest of us after either. I assume you got thrown under the bus for it but I didn't know if you were still mad at us." Sombra looked up at Val solemnly and Val sighed.

"I'm not mad at you guys, I'm mad at Doomfist. I came to workout cause I usually try to fight a tank when I'm mad."

"Yeah? What did he say?" Val sighed as Sombra continued to pry.

"He's putting me back on the field."

"Oh." Sombra said, watching Val pick up his weights and put them back on the rack, their screens resetting. One of the other agents happened to pass by, waving hello to Val.

"Nice shoulder scar." He said, casually. Val knew it was simply a regular friendly greeting, but now he felt like the whole Talon base was coming to say hi to him.

"Thanks, it was plane shrapnel." Val responded almost automatically. A strange culture had formed around battle scars here; it was expected that if you didn't want someone to ask about a scar, you covered it. So while he was annoyed at being bothered in general, he wasn't bothered by being asked about his scars usually.

"Ooh, I have one like that on my stomach, you got lucky." The man said, starting to walk away.

"Sure did." Val said, starting to get irritated as he took out his other headphone and wrapped it around his MP3 aggressively.

"So you don't want to go back field?" Sombra asked after they watched the other Talon agent walk away. She tilted her head at him, in an aggravating display of curiosity.

"I don't," Val leaned over to be closer to eye level with his sitting friend, "Want to talk about this," he said, smiling passive aggressively at her.

Before Sombra could continue, a heavy pair of footsteps stepping up to the two of them prompted Val to stand up straight.

"Hey, pretty boy. Get in the ring." He turned to find Reaper, with his hands in his pockets, changed into what appeared to be his workout gear. Val gave him a once over, his outfit consisting of matching black hoodie and sweatpants, all black sneakers of course and, strangely enough, a black fabric face mask covering the lower half of his face.

"Do you call all the boys that or just me?" Val said sarcastically. "Besides, last time I was hanging out with you I got in big time trouble." He tried to recall the last time he had seen this guy out of uniform, and concluded he was just really dedicated to the mask bit. Reaper's already furrowed eyebrows somehow found a way to further angle downward.

"You weren't the only one who got yelled at today. We can talk about it, or we can get in the ring." Reaper said, nodding toward the boxing ring conveniently also located in the gym.

"We were talking right now actually." Sombra tried to interrupt.

"No, we were not." Val said, quickly shutting down Sombra's attempt to pry again. Sombra raised her arms and scoffed. "I don't box though." Turning back to Reaper, Val crossed his arms, trying to size up his opponent and see what his goal was.

"I didn't say we were boxing. Just get in the ring." Reaper said gruffly, though his voice came out a lot less raspy without his voice modulator disguising it. The older man started walking towards the ring, and Val thought for a moment before following.

"Hey! We were having a conversation!" Sombra shouted at Val before chasing after the two. He rolled his eyes, climbing under the ropes with Reaper. She hung over the ropes of the ring solemnly as the other two got into position. "The thanks I get for being a good friend, Reaper beat him up for me."

"You're next chillona, keep whining." Reaper pointed at Sombra, before turning his attention back to Val.

"Nevermind. Val, send him to early retirement." Val turned and gave her a sideways glance for a few seconds, but then decided to give her a thumbs up.

"You've sparred before?" Reaper said, already putting his guard up. It was a little funny, everything about him came across a lot less intimidating without the mask doing the heavy lifting for him. Not that Val ever found all that smoke and mirrors scary to begin with.

"Not for a while, but I have." Val said, still relaxed with his hands on his hips, trying to gauge his opponent's stance. Reaper's been in the game a long time and had more experience, and his stance said he was trained professionally, which didn't bode well for Val, not that he would show it.

"I'll go easy on you. Wouldn't want to ruin your modeling career." Reaper said smugly, Val choosing to assume an equally smug smile was hidden behind his stupid mask. The notion of this and his already aggravated state prompted Val to throw a quick cheap shot smack into the middle of the other's stomach.

"Don't piss me off today old man. And don't go easy on me." Val said, now readying himself to fight. Reaper squinted at him, and tilted his head, not saying a word.

It took longer for Val to register what happened than it took to find himself in a headlock on the floor already tapping out. All it took was a punch to the face and Reaper had him off his stance and wide open, then the pin came easy.

"Boo! Val, you're supposed to fight back!" Sombra goaded from the sidelines.

"I haven't done this in a while, and he caught me off guard. I'll stop going easy on him this time." Val said, rubbing his eyes reflexively watering from the punch to the nose. He looked at Reaper, for comment, but found no response. Putting his guard up they went again.

Now with adrenaline starting to course through his system, he was alert enough to actually start dodging punches, and get a few swings in of his own. Not that it helped. Val still wound up pinned face down on the floor. Man he was out of practice. Sparring was always a weak spot for him, but these used to be more fair fights. He recovered quickly, ready to go again. Reaper however didn't immediately get back into his fighting stance.

"What, you missing bingo or something? Let's go, hit me," Val said. Reaper quietly stared at Val almost bouncing around on the mat, shook his head, and got into formation. Val made a mental note, he always made the same moves, the same open. That was the thing about most of these professionals, he remembered, the same training means predictability. He took every opportunity to learn from them of course, he didn't have his own training. But he learned very quickly that reading your opponent was where he could excel, he was just out of practice. Even as he was getting bruised up, this was great practice, he really hadn't been on the field in a long time, and he hadn't taken any real hits like this in just as long.

"This is supposed to be sparring, not me bullying you kid." Reaper said as he pinned Val yet again, letting him out of his grip right away.

"Come on, I didn't even tap out!" Val said, getting up quickly. "Again." Val waved for his training partner to continue. Reaper turned and crossed his arms, staring at Val blankly from behind his mask.

"You must enjoy getting your ass kicked, you're out of your league here. I said sparring, not babysitting." Reaper said.

"You're scared now aren't you?" Val breathed, refusing to stand down, and Reaper rolled his eyes. Which, of course, gave Val the push he needed to simply jump at Reaper and start wailing on him. This caught Reaper a little off guard, but now he was having fun.

Now the muscle memory from the old sparring sessions was kicking in, and Val had been noting the way his opponent was fighting this whole time. The two were trading blows equally now, no more tap-outs needed. They both attempted to pin the other a few times, managing to wriggle out in the process though. Sombra watched the boys from the sidelines, alternating booing and cheering depending on what was more entertaining for her, as the two of them slowly got more tired. Reaper did not realize the stamina this kid had, having just got his ass handed to him on repeat and still holding up, which is exactly what made him scary to fight against when he would train in the past.

The two of them eventually ended up on the floor of the ring, breathing heavily. Sombra stood next to Reaper, drinking from his water bottle, conveniently sticking the straw below his mask, the two watching Val lay on his back groaning. If you're picturing a black Stanley cup you have the right idea and yes he stole it.

"You two finally get all your aggression out? You okay V? You want some water?" Sombra asked gently, Val nodding in response. She handed him his water bottle, which he dumped the contents in his mouth before closing it and holding it against his chest.

"Alright, let's go again." Val said, smiling, sitting up, and leaning back on one arm. Reaper and Sombra both raised their eyebrows in concern at him.

"You're crazy. You two come find me when you're done acting like cavemen." Sombra said before leaping out of the ring and making her way out of the gym. Val sipped on his water smugly as he watched her leave, before he turned to Reaper and smiled tiredly.

"You look like you're dying." Reaper said flatly, still sitting on the floor.

"I've been through worse, just need a shower." Val said, giving a small smile before drinking his water. His body was starting to ache now as he was coming down from the adrenaline. Reaper stood up, stepped over to Val, and held out a hand to help.

"Let's go then, I've beat you enough for today." Val looked at the offered hand with skepticism for a second, but clasped the other's arm anyways.

The two men climbed out of the ring, and Reaper headed straight for the locker room, Val hesitating for a moment.

"You gonna shower?" Reaper asked, pausing for a second to turn around.

"Yeah, I just thought I forgot my MP3." Val said, feeling his pocket already knowing exactly where his MP3 was, before following the other.

In the locker room, Reaper had coincidentally used a locker a few feet away from Val's and was standing at it pulled open. Val had placed his water bottle and MP3 on a bench absentmindedly, and opened his locker lost in a nervous train of thought. Usually he didn't mind using the locker room, especially when it was nearly empty like this, but the showering aspect made him more anxious than he would care to admit. Val stalled by pulling the hair tie out of his ponytail, knowing it would be easier to just get it over with.

"Just bite the bullet," Val thought to himself, before he reached behind his head and pulled his damp shirt up and off his back. He held it across his chest, still hesitating. Deep breath in, deep breath out, and then finally, he tossed the shirt in his locker.

Rubbing his scalp as he turned back to the bench, Val couldn't help but give a glance at Reaper, who only took off his jacket at this point, revealing his t-shirt underneath.

At the same moment, Reaper turned and made eye-contact with Val for a second. He gave Val a once over, the mask still obscuring his expression, making the younger man's heart start to hammer. His brown eyes went straight to the two large lateral scars running across Val's chest, which were obvious among the other asymmetrical laceration scars he had, before Reaper averted his gaze. Nervously, Val leaned over to pick up his stuff off the bench, still watching the other's reaction out of the corner of his eye. It felt like Val's scars were burning from the other's stare now, and the older of the two remained so silent it was almost deafening as Reaper sat down on the bench, pulling his foot up to untie his shoe. Right after pulling out the knot however, as Val turned slowly to put away his belongings, Reaper paused, picked up his water next to him, and rather than sticking the straw under like earlier, pulled off his face mask, casually taking a drink.

Val only caught a glimpse, not wanting to stare, but he felt his muscles start to relax, and his breathing started to slow. It was a small gesture, but a gesture that said "I won't ask about yours if you won't ask about mine" was all the reassurance Val needed. He always had an issue with showers, they always came with extra baggage, at least this one would just be a shower, this time.