26 hours later, Battlepoint: Grand Mesa, interrogation section 3, observation room.
This was beyond any imagination pointless. It was even more than that, it was a gigantic waste of time which they didn't have on top of being a horribly stupid idea which they currently couldn't afford. It was almost as pointless as it was without any useful result. Almost.
Beating it out of her didn't work.
Reinhardt had been applying each and every enhanced interrogation technique he was aware of for the last eight hours straight, without any noteworthy result other than the most creative array of insults Morrison had ever heard from a female. And that coming from someone who worked with Lena Oxton, who could cuss like no other.
In a small sliver of hope, Morrison thought that maybe talking to Sombra on an eye to eye level, especially after she had been put through the meat grinder over and over again, would show results.
It didn't.
Sombra was proving to be a very, very tough nut to crack and Morrison dreaded the idea of having to resort to actual torture and not just enhanced interrogation. Not because it was inhumane, he and Reyes had crossed that bridge a long time ago. No, being inhumane wasn't even on the list of reasons why something shouldn't be done anymore. As sad as it might have been, but in their business things normal people would be appalled by, were on their daily routine. The reason the Commander didn't like the very idea of torturing a prisoner for questioning was, because the results tended to be absolute garbage anyway. At a certain point everyone just told the interrogator whatever the suspect thought they wanted to hear.
And that was just a plain worthless piece of garbage information.
There was no good way to differentiate the good information from the bad, which automatically turned everything to useless brabbling. And torturing someone for mere text on a tape was just a waste of time and tapes. The pressure applied to the subject needed to be strong enough to press the desired information out of them, without placing them in anything other than perceived danger or pushing them too far beyond their pain-threshold. He was very much aware that they were walking a fine line between torture and enhanced interrogation, but to him it meant all the difference. The one was controlled with the illusion of danger, the other wasn't. Not that it mattered as of now. Sombra didn't budge.
Letting out a long sigh Morrison tiredly squeezed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a moment and trying to keep a calm head.
He was quickly running out of what little time remained. The election was only days away by now and if the current polls were anything to go by, then the next UN General Secretary would be called Thiery Savant. A person Morrison didn't think was the worst successor to Royce. At least the man seemed to have a spine, relatively speaking, for he was still a politician, and he seemed to be capable of calling a spade a spade. Morrison was probably going to vote for him when he found the time to do so.
"You know, if you'd just let me, I could give you those information you need in two minutes."
Morrison spun around, startled out of his thoughts. He thought he was definitely losing his touch if someone managed to sneak up on him, but then he saw cold golden eyes mustering him in a scrutinizing way. Of course she would be able to pull that off. He would probably be disappointed if she wasn't.
"You look like merde." Widowmaker added coolly.
"You gave me a heart attack." Morrison retorted. "How long have you been standing there?" He asked, skillfully ignoring her remark. He had a pretty good idea of how exhausted he must have looked like. It couldn't have been much worse than how he actually felt.
"Couple of minutes." Widow replied, smirking ever so slightly with the shadows of the room giving her a more than sinister aura. That woman could probably easily convince just about anyone that demons were actually a thing. Probably succubi, too he thought to himself.
"You just wanted to know how long I'd take to notice you, right?" he sighed tiredly. That woman could be such a child at times. A silent, deadly and absolutely ruthless child in the body of an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful demon of death.
"Envisageable" Widow purred with a grin, stepping up next to Morrison. How that vixen could always wear high heels was absolutely beyond him, not to mention how she actually pulled off any kind of soundless movement. Right now, however, her heels were clicking loudly on the metal floor, before she stood next to him. Only because she chose to walk loudly, of that he was certain.
The assassin was peering out of the dark room and through the halfway see-through mirror into the brightly lit interrogation room. It wasn't much different from the one in Gibraltar, except for some slightly darker colors. For some reason the floor was covered with water, the lights reflecting in the now shiny surface.
Two people were occupying the room. Obviously there was Sombra sitting on the chair in front of the table, the very epitome of regret written on her face. There was a towel hanging over her shoulders her wet hair hanging in between the folds of the towel. Sombra had her hands folded on top of each other, gripping them tightly, while her lips were pressed into tight lines. It was the look a kid would have when they were lectured by their mother for something they did very, very wrong.
With the difference being that the other person in the interrogation room wasn't Sombra's mother, of course. It was no one else than little Hana Song. Now that was definitely interesting.
"I didn't think you'd let her have a go at doing the interrogation herself." Widow said, making it sound like a question. She was pretty sure that the Commander did say something like that on the day they had captured the hacker.
"True. But she offered and I figured, maybe if the two share some kind of friendship, Hana could make her open up."
"Did that possibly contain the application of cold water and a towel, commonly referred to as waterboarding?" Widow quipped dryly, perking up an eyebrow. "I didn't think the kid had it in her."
"She doesn't. It was Rein who resorted to some more drastic methods."
A low chuckle escaped Widow's throat. "Stick and carrot approach? Send sweet little Hana in to make it all better?"
"It was worth a try." He said plainly, an edge of defeat betraying his voice.
Widow snorted. "Oui. A try. Let me take a wild guess, it didn't work now, did it?" Amélie asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. This would have been so easy if only she were allowed to make Sombra talk from the beginning.
Morrison just shook his head ever so slowly.
"Didn't think so." Widow chuckled. "Just let me take care of it, you'll have your answer before you know it."
The Commander gave her a contemplating glance. He was pretty much out of options at this point, so what else was he going to do? He didn't even want to know what Widowmaker was capable of doing to a prisoner, the techniques Talon must have taught her when it came to extracting information.
"Fine." He agreed. "Tell me what you need and I'll get it here immediately."
Much to his surprise the only reaction he got was a mildly confused frown. "Why would I need anything?" the assassin asked with a shake of her head, as if the very idea was completely silly. She walked up to the door and grabbed the handle, before she looked over her shoulder again. "Oh right, Lena said that Dr. Ziegler wants to talk to you about some genetic manipulation whatever. I didn't pay a lot of attention. Find out yourself." She paused, scratching her chin. "It's weird, I was almost certain that there was some kind of method for communication which doesn't rely on me being a messenger. Because that's not what I am here for. It might be called a communicator, a radio, or maybe a phone. I'm sure you may have heard of it?"
Morrison rolled his eyes but nodded. Not that Widow didn't have a point, he just wished she would tune down the sarcasm a bit, he always felt like she'd use that kind of speech-patterns before she slit someone's throat. "Yeah, I set it to private today. Thanks for letting me know, I'll go talk to her later. For now I'll stay here and watch."
Widowmaker just made an annoyed tsk sound as she left the observation room to enter the interrogation room right next to it. She purposefully kicked the door open, stalking into the room like a predator. The heads of the two only occupants turned toward the door and followed the newcomer, as Amélie walked around the table in slow, but determined steps. She didn't regard Sombra at all, instead focusing on Hana.
A single glance was all it took.
The intensions clear. The outcome obvious. The way it would happen disclosed. DVa understood immediately, her body rooted to the spot in her chair with her blood running cold and all her tendons arching.
"No..." Hana almost whispered, her expression changing from confusion to despair. "No, please, you can't do this to her. Not you... You can't hurt her. It's not her fault..." she almost begged, but the icy expression on Widowmakers face told Hana that there was no hope. Nothing she could say would change the assassins mind. There was a job to do and Widowmaker always got the job done.
Those eerie golden eyes were drilling holes into Hana, more intense than the woman herself and as painful on the skin as the flames of a torch.
"It is my fault, chica." Sombra said under hear breath, looking up and reaching for Hana's hand. The handcuffs which chained her to the table rattled uncomfortably before she tugged on the other woman's sleeve to gain her attention. "Don't worry about me."
"You should listen to her, child." Widow said evenly, her voice void of all emotion. "This is no place for you."
"No!" Hana insisted. "This isn't right! I know this isn't what it all looks like. Olivia didn't do it voluntarily, I swear!"
At that Widowmaker's hand snapped forward pulling DVa easily out of her chair and lifting her up. Despite her slender figure, Amélie had plenty of strength. "Get. Out." She hissed through her teeth. "You couldn't bear what will happen. Do yourself a favor and leave. Now." She added with a bite, shoving the petite Asian toward the door. The water on the ground splashed with each step, before she fell to the floor. There was fear in Hana's eyes, as she obviously contemplated her options. It was easy to tell how much the young woman was debating with herself whether to stay or to leave. But after a few seconds she decided to do the latter. Scrambling to her feet she fled the interrogation room, cursing Widow in Korean.
"Amélie." Sombra stated, not looking at Widowmaker, as she slowly sat down on the other side of the table. Only after she had set down did her purple eyes find the assassin's.
"Olivia." Widow replied, calm and serious. There was an unspoken understanding between them in this moment. No matter what happened between them in the past, it didn't matter anymore. They knew exactly what would happen. They both knew there was no other way and they both knew exactly what the consequences would be. They understood that neither of them had a choice and that nothing of this was personal.
It was weirdly peaceful. The calm before the storm maybe. Peaceful... that it was. But heavy. Meaningful. Hard to stomach.
The small room was silent, the weight of the situation making the air heavy, as if there was physical weight added to each particle. Breathing was difficult and time seemed to pass slower than usual. Many moments were spent with the two women only looking at each other, without any kind of resentment noticeable. They were never the best of friends, hell they didn't even get along most of the time. All that connected them was a healthy dose of respect for the other's abilities and a common job. Amélie could never stand Sombra's nonchalant attitude and easygoing methods. Olivia never got used to Widowmaker's cruelty and absolute lack of any compassion. They had never been able to see eye to eye. They never tried either.
But in this moment, it changed. They sat together and the past was just that. Past. It was strangely calming, and felt like they were somehow suddenly connected on a personal level.
"She will hate you." Sombra said finally, breaking the silence. Her voice didn't fit the situation. She was almost indifferent, like they were two old friends sharing coffee on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
"I know." Amélie replied slowly, almost like she just had reluctantly admitted her plan. "She's young. There is a lot she doesn't understand yet." she continued. "It's better for her to hate me, than learn the truth about those she looks up to." She didn't comment on any implications this statement had.
Olivia nodded. "So you have a heart after all."
An ever so faint smile spread over Amélie's lips for only the smallest of moments, if one were to blink, it would have been missed. "Maybe. Somewhere."
"I never got to take her to that beach in my hometown." A soft smile flashed over Olivia's lips. "I think she would have liked that. I would have."
"I'll make sure she knows." Widow replied with more softness in her voice than most people thought her capable of.
After an acknowledging nod, Olivia adjusted her position on the seat. She swallowed. "Can we get this over with now, please?" she asked, her eyes telling Widowmaker everything there was to know. Not that she didn't suspect what the consequences would be. She had no illusions about which lengths Talon's head would go to protect their identity.
"Oui." Widow nodded and stood up again, walking behind the hacker. "Olivia?"
"Hm?"
"I'll have an eye on her."
"Gracias... amiga."
Widow didn't reply anything anymore, as she placed her hand on Sombra's shoulder and said: "Would you do me a favor?" She wanted to punch herself for doing this, as she felt Olivia's body underneath her hand stiffen up for a couple of moments, before it relaxed completely.
"Whatever you desire, Mistress." Was the monotonous reply.
"Who is the leader of Talon?"
"Gabriel Reyes is in command of Talon." Sombra replied immediately, causing Widowmaker to groan. Of course. She should have phrased that more precisely.
"And who is leading the operation Reyes is part of? Who is the mastermind behind everything?"
There was a longer pause, in which Sombra opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. Her body was stiffening up like a plank again and her hands dug into the armrest of the chair she had been handcuffed to.
"Who is it?" Widow pressed on. "Tell me."
"His name is... his name... his..." Sombra stuttered obviously in a tremendous amount of pain. Her eyes were rolling into the back of her hand and she tried to speak with her teeth pressed together. She was shaking so violently now that Widow was pretty sure the woman had some kind of spasm. "Thiery... Savant." She forced out, surprisingly loud and clear.
Then her spasms stopped and she slumped in the chair, her body unmoving.
Silence. For a moment there was complete silence. Amélie had to process what Sombra had just said and most likely, so did Morrison. This was not a name anyone might have expected to hear.
While Widowmaker pressed her fingers to Sombra's neck to search for a pulse, the door flew open and Commander Morrison came rushing inside. Amélie managed to get a short glimpse at a mortified looking DVa standing outside.
"How reliable is that intel?" Morrison asked urgently as Amélie stood up again next to the unmoving Sombra.
Widow gave him a pointed look, saying are-you-kidding-me with her eyes."You should know that anyone this command works on, can't lie to you, right? Since you already used it on me." She hissed through her teeth.
"I need to be absolutely sure about this. We can't afford any mistakes in this."
Widowmaker crossed her harms under her chest, throwing her hair out of her face with an ever so elegant flick of her head "This is him. One hundred percent. If you think the intel on her knowing who the head of Talon is was good at least."
"The intel is waterproof." Morrison insisted. It had to be. Reaper had to go through way too much trouble to obtain it in order for it not being accurate.
"Then so is this answer." Widow returned evenly.
"Well, shit." Morrison grumbled. "We'll get this sorted out and fast." He said and was about to turn around. "What about Sombra?" he asked as if it was but an afterthought.
"Dead. Killswitch in her conditioning." Widow stated without hesitation or emotion in her voice. Like she didn't give a damn in the world. She got straight down to business. "So are we going to assume the name is correct?"
Morrison nodded. This was it. They were cutting it so damn close that it made him nauseous, but there was still time. However little, it was still there. It was doable. The fact that the person who Sombra revealed was probably going to be the next UN General secretary didn't make things any easier however.
"When do we take care of him?"
Neither of them noticed Hana standing next to Olivia, tugging on her shoulder as if she would try to shake her awake.
-/-
"Sooo" Lena grinned, much to Mercy's dismay.
"Nein. Stop. Don't even start." Angela tried, as she took a closer look through some of the data McCree and Hanzo had sent them from Antarctica. Highly fascinating material indeed. Now if only Morrsion would deem it necessary to show up anytime soon, she could inform him about the results of his oh so important analysis.
"You'll not get off the hook that easily, luv. Remember, you didn't let me go either."
"I knew this would sooner or later bite me in the ass" Mercy muttered.
"Hehe, of course." Lena laughed. "Besides, Amélie already told me."
Angela's head popped up from her display and she stared at Lena with her mouth slightly open and a little embarrassed blush starting to spread on her cheekbones. The Brit just shrugged with her boyish grin, which was so very adorable on her. "What? We talk about everything. I think it's great you finally got it on. Took you long enough for sure."
Mercy tried to keep her composure as much as possible, as she cleared her throat. "Yeah..." she managed.
"Are you happy?" Lena inquired, her playfulness all but gone. It was such a serious question that Angela immediately felt the urge to look her best friend in the eyes. She found nothing but honest interest and concern for her in them.
At that Mercy almost started beaming. "You can't imagine how much." As the doctors smile grew wider and wider, Lena's did too. It was great to see that Angela was finally able to accept her own wishes and desires for what they were and started to practice what she always preached. You really need to take better care of yourself.
"Oh, I think I have a pretty close idea." Lena returned. "It's like something you didn't even know was missing is finally in place, right?"
"Something like that" Angela agreed.
"I'm happy for you." Tracer said with a small grin, looking at her friend. There was a change visible in her, in the way her eyes were brighter, her smile more powerful and her mood so much more like sunshine.
"Thank you, Lena" Angela said earnestly. "Not just for this, but for all you did for me. I never really got to say that properly to you, did I?" Mercy inhaled sharply, knowing that she wasn't only talking about Lena's help with Fareeha or her constant pushing or anything like that anymore. "It's-"
"Hey, hey. Stop right there. I'd like to think that as your best friend I have the right to do stuff for you which won't be repaid. You do that all the time for me, so zip it." Lena insisted quickly. She didn't want to think about the hidden meaning of Angela's words. Everything was the way it should have been. At least for the most part. The past was past, no point in bringing anything up again.
There was a long moment of silence between the two women. Not necessarily uncomfortable, but longer than what was usual for them.
Then, Mercy nodded her understanding just in the same moment when the door opened, being harshly pushed out of the way. The Commander arrived unannounced, as he often did, with Widowmaker and Winston in tow, which wasn't the case as often. If at all.
Winston was pushing a cart with a blanket spread over it, the distinctive form of a human body underneath it. He pushed the cart to the side and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry Dr. Ziegler, but Ms. Colomar didn't survive the last round of questioning. Should you wish to conduct an autopsy, it would be appreciated." He said, his deep voice completely level. If there was the slightest edge to it, no one heard it. He didn't always agree with Morrison's methods, but he respected them. Not only because he was his Commander and he swore to obey his orders, but also because they usually got them results, even though through morally questionable ways. Like in this instance.
"Thank you, Winston. I'll see what I'll find out." Mercy replied and watched as the giant gorilla excused himself and left the infirmary.
Widowmaker in the meantime walked over to Tracer and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"You said there is something you wanted to show me?" Morrison started and Mercy nodded, typing a few commands into her console.
"It's about the data Jesse and Hanzo sent us. I took a closer look at everything." The doctor said, showing everyone some complex looking diagrams and data-charts no one could ad hoc understand. "They were doing genetic re-sequencing on a highly advanced level. Two things I can tell you right off the start. The first thing is, that they tried and failed multiple times to copy memories and experiences. Why they would do this, is beyond me. The second thing is, every modification they made only affects genetic markers exclusively responsible for changing our looks. Skin color, texture, hair, eyes, ears, the shape of mouth and nose, even the size of our cheekbones. Things like that."
"So they were trying to change someone's appearance?"
"Oh, they didn't try. They did it. Though it seems they had to manually apply the tissue they created."
"Meaning? And can you show us who they changed?"
"Unfortunately, no. I cannot reconstruct anything with the data I have here. I would need to analyze an actual test a sample." Mercy said. "And by manually applying I mean that they had to grow the changed tissue somewhere and then apply it to the target by means of surgery. Now it makes so much more sense why they abducted me, too. If they could have gotten a hold of my nanotechnology, they could have bypassed so many possible problems. I'm willing to take bets that there must have been some kind of tissue-rejection or-"
"Yes, yes, Doc." Morrison interrupted. "So you need a sample of the person they were experimenting on?"
"Ja."
"Not good." He mumbled "Not good at all." He sounded very much nervous now.
"What's not good, Sir?" Lena wanted to know, an eyebrow perked up.
"There is a timeframe, Oxton. Jesse and Hanzo will be back tomorrow evening, by then it might already be too late." He murmured.
"Hu? Why is that? I mean-" Widow gave her a meaningful glance and Lena shut up. "Oh. Right." Election day.
Morrison had turned his attention back to Dr. Ziegler, who did an excellent job at pretending that nothing out of the ordinary was going on in this conversation. "There is no other way to identify who they changed or how that person looks like now?"
"How he looks now is easier to answer. I can start extrapolating an approximate face. But for any exact analysis I need a sample, especially if you want to know who they used to be."
"Do that. How long will that take you?" He wanted to know.
Mercy glanced over her data on the holographic interface once more and started to type some commands. "Well, even with News absolutely incredible computing power we are talking about a whole gene-sequencing and extrapolating procedure with a whole 3D body imaging. I might be able to give you some images in about 12 hours."
Morrison groaned. "We're cutting it too close and I will not take any chances with this one. Widow, you have a job to do, instructions will be forwarded to you once you're in the shuttle. You will leave in an hour."
The grin which spread over Widowmaker's lips in that very moment could only be described as the devil's smile. It was so mean, so menacing and filled with a cruel anticipation, it made the Commander shiver. "Oui. With pleasure." She said and turned on her heel to leave the infirmary, with Lena following right behind her.
"Oxton! Where are you going?"
"Who do you think will fly her?" she asked and was gone without accepting another word. The Commander rolled his eyes, expressed his thanks to Mercy and turned to go to his office. There was a highly important phone call he would have to make.
Angela leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. She didn't even want to know what kind of super secret missions were going on or where the sudden timeframe came from. She didn't want to know. She would probably just squeeze it out of Lena later. Because of how much she didn't want to know. Closing her eyes for what she thought could have only been a moment, she tried to collect her thoughts and plan her next steps. Start the calculation was obviously the next step. After that she'd take a look at the corpse Winston had brought her. Angela should have been outraged, really. But for some reason she had expected that this would happen. Which didn't change the fact that it was wrong and not the result any kind of interrogation should have. But Mercy had enough common sense to see that now wasn't the time for ethical debates with the Commander. The doc could feel that they were rapidly approaching what would be the endgame to it all. Whatever 'it all' was exactly, she didn't need to know, but she knew that the work of the past months and years was heading toward the finale. All Mercy could do now, was support the Commander and everyone else to the best of her abilities until they were done.
Opening her eyes again, she immediately noticed that she wasn't alone in the infirmary anymore. Standing in front of the covered body of Sombra was Hana, her head hung low and her hand reaching out for the blanket before withdrawing it again. She did this over and over again. Most of her face was covered by her brown hair, but Mercy could see that all color was drained from her skin and how empty her expression was.
"Hana?" Angela asked softly as she got up from her desk and approached the young Korean. The girls head snapped up and she stared at the doctor as if she had just seen a ghost. Her eyes were bloodshot and dried tearstains were covering her pale cheeks. Damn those eyes hurt by just looking at them.
"I liked her." Hana sobbed, almost choking on her words. "She was my friend." The expression she wore was haunting, hollow, drained. She looked 30 years older in just a matter of an hour.
"Do you want to see her?" Mercy asked gently, standing next to Hana and placing a hand on the other woman's shoulder. Only now did she notice how hard DVa was shivering. Feeling the nod, Angela lifted the blanket and pulled it off Sombra's face.
Surprisingly Olivia didn't look any different. She might have been sleeping. Which she was. Forever.
Unsurprisingly Hana started sobbing uncontrollably again and Mercy could only pull the cover back over Sombra's face before she pulled Hana into a hug. Poor girl.
"There is nothing you can do, right?" DVa cried into Angela's shoulder.
Mercy inhaled as an idea struck her mind. A stupid idea.
Well...
-/-
A/N:
"Hey, patate"
-hu? What?
"Why are you writing after being away for so long?"
-well, because I wanted to finish this and...
"non. You'll come with me. We'll go out and have fun, you haven't seen your friends in forever. Enough work for you."
-But I need...
"No buts. I will get Angela if you don't behave!"
-You're a dictator.
"I am. And you love it. Now come along, you'll drive."
Alright everyone, that's it for this installment of Addictions. We reached Chapter 50, which is absolutely insane I think. I'm very sorry how my time-schedule is like these days and how it affects the frequency of updates, but I'm trying my best. We're approaching the end of the story in a few chapters, so it's only a few years until this is going to be finished. Lol.
-.-
Anyway, as always a huge thank you to everyone who supports this story, leaves a like or a comment and reads my stuff. I', happy that you're entertained. Especially if you're entertained enough to tip me some money for writing this! Thank you so much to Nachte who is tipping monthly like a complete madman! Thank you so much, friend! And to JellyNolVen, who tipped an insane 30€! Holy balls, thank you so much! I will definitely use that supply of coffee!
If you want to support me, you can do so over on Tipeee dot com slash e82s-fanfiction. Not a must! I'm absolutely happy with comments and likes :)
See you all in the next one
o7
E82