By the time the reinforcements from Morrison arrived, the entire strike team was exhausted. Angela had already healed all of them from any injuries, but that did not remove the aches and pains that they had had to endure. So much so that the moment Lena's back hit her seat, she was practically knocked out.
Of course, she was not completely unaware of everything around her. Lena could hear Chase talk to the reinforcements' commander, though the details were lost to her ears. She could feel the thump as Reinhardt peeled off ruined pieces of his armor. The sound of mutterings between Angela and Genji, the snores from Winston, and the hum of the ship they were on.
Peaceful. Enough that Lena felt herself relax just the tiniest bit, even if the remnants of her encounter with Doomfist lingered.
And that was the catalyst she needed. Needed to suddenly groan and press her hands to her head.
'Why the bloody hell did I say that shite?!'
Lena could admit she wasn't the smartest person in the room - that title would likely go to Angela. But talking back to an internationally wanted terrorist who could, with little effort, crush her entire body to fine paste? That wasn't smart. That wasn't even stupid.
'Complete and utter dumbassery! Fuck!'
Lena really didn't even need to do anything. She knew for a fact that Archer would never even consider joining Talon. He'd already made his position clear well before any of this. What's more, his presence still depended on her, for some reason he still couldn't fully explain, and Lena knew herself well enough that joining terrorists would never be on the table.
To some, it might feel like she was in denial. In writing, some sort of foreshadowing that she'd eventually join Talon out of desperation.
No, it was much worse than that.
It was because she caught herself defending Archer of all people. The smug, arrogant, and utter asshat that she could still call a friend. She'd never hear the end of it. It would be the source of teasing for literal years to come when he heard about it.
That he would hear about it, considering it was part of the mission and all that, was just the icing on the cake. Still, it would be a couple more hours before she had to confront the reality of her situation, so she'd put it off till then.
She stayed that way, up until the distinct feeling of the landing greeted her. Honestly, she didn't even notice the time in transit, wrapped as she was in both her thoughts and attempts to sleep. Stretching as she stood up, she saw the others grab their equipment and head out the ship. Winston required more than one bit of prodding, having been the only one to truly sleep, if only due to the injuries he had sustained during the fighting.
They hadn't tried to talk to her the entire time, and while part of her was worried that it was because they were wary of her with how she acted, another was convinced that it was simply because they were tired.
That being said, no matter how tired they were, they still needed to debrief Morrison and the others. On exiting the ship, they were immediately met by said commander, as well as Reyes and Gerard Lacroix. Amélie Lacroix had been taken by the medical staff into the clinic, led by Angela, and followed by the unconscious woman's husband.
The rest of them were silently led through the facility, the path making it clear they were heading to the war room, though the silence was broken when Reinhardt nudged Lena.
"Are you doing alright?" While the bigger man tried to whisper, everyone could still hear it. She had to stifle a laugh at the man's attempt at trying to be quiet. It just wasn't meant to be. Thankfully, Morrison and Reyes didn't say anything against it, only raising an eyebrow in the case of the latter.
"Doing alright, all things considered." And she was telling the truth, this time around. Usually, when someone said they were 'alright', that was a complete and utter lie. In this case, she was surprised to find that it was the truth. Before, during the first real battle during the London Uprising, she was frankly terrified that she would die. During the mission they had been through, she was the same.
Now? After everything had been said and done? Lena could tell just about anyone that she was fine and mean it.
Was there something wrong with her for thinking that? She didn't know, and that, more than anything, was what scared her.
Still, hearing her answer, Reinhardt nodded at her, even if there was still an undercurrent of worry in said nod. The conversation died out quickly after that. They were all still tired, and just wanted the debrief to be over with. Especially the still obviously sleepy Winston, who was groggily dragging himself along with them.
"Wow, look who the cat dragged in. You doing good, cariño?"
The grogginess that fueled her steps disappeared the moment they entered, greeted by the exasperated form of Archer, and a too-relaxed form of another woman.
…
The first thing that Lena noticed about the newcomer was her hair. One half of her head was shaved, showcasing what could only be glowing purple circuits flowing towards the back of said head. Compared to Genji, who looked more Omnic than cyborg, this woman was definitely a cyborg.
She was clad in a purple muscle shirt and shorts, which only served for them to see the clawed gloves that she wore, and the continued circuitry seemingly attached to her entire form. She had her legs propped up on the table, and was actively tossing an apple up and down.
"You need to work on your people skills." Archer spoke, rolling his eyes as they entered. He gave a nod towards them, before standing up and speaking, "Welcome back. Let me introduce you to Ol-"
"Ah ah ah!" The woman interrupted, "You know the deal, guapo, don't you go and break it."
Snorting in response, Archer raised an eyebrow, "I still feel that you're overreacting. Really, why do you even want to go by Sombra of all things?"
The woman, Sombra, rolled her eyes back at him, "¿De verdad puedes decir eso? Do you really have the right to say that? When you go by Archer?"
"Unlike you, I have an actual reason than a half-assed attempt at, quote, 'hiding from my enemies'. Newsflash, plastering your online avatar all over your base does not make hiding any easier."
"It's my brand, dude! You just wouldn't understand." The smirk on Sombra's face widened when she looked at Lena. She got up from her seat, before framing her hands in front of the pilot, "So this is the famous Lena Oxton. Gotta say chica, I thought you'd be taller."
'Archer, who the hell is this?' Her eye twitched as the other woman continued to circle around them, commenting all the while.
The response she got was a sigh of exasperation.
"Why don't you sit down and stay quiet for a while, brat?" Reyes interrupted before Archer could reply through their link. In turn, Sombra gave him an unimpressed glance, then, to the astonishment of many in the room, waved her hand in front of her in a shooing motion.
"You're not the boss of me, old man. If you think you can order me around, estás muy equivocado. That's just not how it works. I-"
"Sombra." Archer cut in before Reyes could commit homicide in front of them. The man was practically foaming at the mouth before Sombra stopped. The purple clad woman rolled her eyes, before, much to Lena's mild surprise, she actually listened to Archer and sat back down.
Still keeping an eye on the newcomer, the rest of them took a seat as Morrison took to the front. Once again, she and the others sat in the same position as they had just a few days ago. Unlike then, though, she had to fight the urge to sleep like the dead, only kept awake by the sheer animosity that she could feel Reyes directed towards Sombra.
So much was her focus on avoiding Reyes' ire that she missed Morrison's opening, only snapping back into focus when Archer began speaking.
"Very well. Let me introduce Sombra, the hacker responsible for infiltrating Overwatch's systems."
"Sup."
Like a thunderbolt, the identity of the woman who was too relaxed struck her. She took a breath as the hacker snapped her fingers, and suddenly the entire room was plunged into a neon purple. A stylized purple skull on a black background formed on every digital surface. Hologram projectors, screens, and even the visor that Morrison wore, all of them had the skull.
In an instant, all of them were awake and ready to barrel at the woman, only for Archer to break the tension, almost literally breaking the table in between them by slamming his fist into it.
Groaning and rubbing his temples, he spoke once more, his tone akin to a parent dealing with a particularly unruly child, "For once, can you not do that?"
"Hey, you're the one that put me up as a villain. I'm just playing my part with style." Sombra was unconcerned with the two shotguns that Reyes had somehow pulled out of nowhere, and was not pointed directly at her head.
"Be that as it may, you're really not making a good case for yourself when you've been asking for asylum." Archer motioned for everyone to stand down, and reluctantly, they did so. If the Spirit was talking like that, then they likely had no need to worry. Not because they fully trusted Sombra not to do anything, but because they at least trusted Archer enough to take her down if need be.
They pulled their weapons back, with the sole exception of Reyes, still pointing his guns at the shorter woman.
"On the contrary, I think I'm doing a fantastic job showcasing my skills. ¿Quién no querría a alguien tan talentosa como yo a su lado? Who wouldn't want someone as talented as me on their side?"
"Anyone who doesn't want their damned blood pressure to rise, that's for sure." Scratching his head in annoyance, Archer stared back at everyone else, "As you can see, she's the real deal. Something to do with her cybernetics allows her to interface with almost any electronic device, even remotely. She may as well be the best damned hacker on the planet."
"And she's still not arrested, why?" Morrison was tense, and though his own weapon, a pistol, was at his side, he was more than ready to put a bullet through Sombra's head.
"Made a proposition with Archer here, one I think you'd be willing to hear out." Sombra waved her hand once again, and the purple disappeared, replaced by the normal glow of electronics around them. It was eerie just how fast she worked, "Basically, I scratch your back, you scratch mine. You protect me from Talon, I help you beat them down."
"What the hell does Talon want with you?" Reyes spoke roughly.
"Who wouldn't want a hacker like me on their team?" She asked rhetorically, and Lena had to give it to her. She had a point, "Talon wants to recruit me, and in every other scenario, I might've joined them."
"And you think admitting that would give you any legitimacy on not joining them?" Reyes pressed forward, his fingers already on the trigger. The fact that nobody stopped him from doing so was alarming. Though he didn't show it, Lena knew that, should he even try to actually shoot, Archer would step in, even if she thought he was letting this go on for way too long.
"Amigo, you're pointing shotguns at me. If this is how Overwatch treats people, do you blame me for wanting to see the opposite?"
"Alright, that's enough. Both of you, calm down." Far from the light tone that was usually tinged with smugness, Archer finally stepped in. Placing himself between the two, he glared at the man, prompting Reyes to click his tongue and lower his guns, while Sombra smirked at the other man. The smirk dropped once Archer directed his glare at her.
'What a mother hen.'
"I heard that."
"Well, if you're so curious, Talon has been sending me recruitment requests for a while now, and I'll admit, it was very tempting. Uuuuup until they decided that they didn't want to wait and tried sending a squad after me, and then stole my tech. No me gustó nada. I did not like that."
"Stolen tech? What kind? And what happened to the Talon mercs?"
"Invisibility stealth fields of my own design. Very good, lasts for a long time, even on limited batteries. As for the mercs, well, it's not my fault that their dropships don't have very good firewalls."
Lena and the strike team looked at each other. That sounded way too familiar. To the Talon operative that they had caught spying on them, and the numerous others that had ambushed them on their way out. If they had access to the creator of such a thing, then they could likely create countermeasures.
As for the latter half of her answer, it was chilling just how easy the other woman made it out to be. They were under no illusions as to the fate of those that went after her. As a pilot, however, the idea that something like that could happen, that she would be at the mercy of someone who could be relaxing somewhere else, was terrifying to think about.
"I'll give you access to my information network as well, so long as you keep me safe from those pendejos. Actually, here, have a freebie. That new Doomfist has been planning on that little coup of his for a while now, but he's still had to accelerate his plans earlier than initially planned. All because of Archer here."
" Thank you for throwing me under the bus. I appreciate it, really." Archer dryly said.
"Anytime, guapo."
"At any rate, apparently, my presence spurred Ogundimu to do what he did. The reasons have been mostly kept out of any digital files, likely due to his own paranoia. The only reason we know as much is that Sombra has been apparently keeping an eye on them long enough that she managed to record a conversation between Ogundimu and one of his lieutenants." Archer shrugged, "Just my name though, nothing concrete as to why."
"I believe our report can put some things into perspective." Chase called out, looking at Sombra pointedly. It was obvious that she was telling the hacker to leave the room, but Archer cut in before anyone could voice objections.
"No, I'd like her to stay here. With her abilities, she would just hack the cameras and listen in anyway. At least this way, we're not compromising security even more than it already is."
Huffing in disapproval, Morrison nodded his reluctant permission to Chase, who cleared her throat, before taking charge and starting to debrief the room about their mission.
Everything, up until Lena's response to Doomfist's intentions. She caught the subtle look in between the four leaders - Reyes, Morrison, Chase and Amari - and the wary looks that they sent to both Sombra and Archer as Chase continued to explain what had transpired.
"I'll have the full transcripts prepared later." Chase promised as she finished. The moment she did, Sombra laughed.
"Look who's Mr. Popular all of the sudden! He even has Little Miss Cheerleader over there rooting for him!"
'Kill me now.'
"No, that would be too easy." Archer's smugness was heavy on her shoulders, even as he outwardly berated Sombra, "You know, I'm pretty sure O'Hara would enjoy reading those transcripts."
'Don't you bloody dare!' Silence in response, 'Archer?! Archer, tell me you're joking!'
The lighthearted, inward conversation continued, even as Lena did her best to ignore the similarly silently grave conversation between the four leaders of Overwatch.
…
A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.
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And a special thanks to: FireRogueWolf25, brutalcrab and Tassimo.